iOn July 18, 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published in the Federal Register its proposed rule on the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) Program: Standards for 2018 and Biomass-Based Diesel Volume for 2019. The rulemaking proposes the annual percentage standards for cellulosic biofuel, advanced biofuel, and total renewable fuel for motor vehicle gasoline and diesel produced or imported in 2018, as well as biomass-based diesel in 2019, as reported in the Biobased and Renewable Products Advocacy Group’s (BRAG®) blog post EPA Releases Proposed 2018 RFS Volume Requirements. The proposed volume requirements are:
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238 million gallons for cellulosic biofuel in 2018, down from 311 million gallons in 2017;
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4.24 billion gallons for advanced biofuel in 2018, down from 4.28 billion gallons in 2017;
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19.24 billion gallons for renewable fuel in 2018, down from 19.28 billion gallons in 2017; and
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2.1 billion gallons for biomass-based diesel in 2018 and 2019.
These volumes would set the percentage standards at 0.131 percent for cellulosic biofuel, 2.34 percent for advanced biofuel, 10.62 percent for renewable fuel, and 1.74 percent for biomass-based diesel. Comments on the proposed rule must be received by August 31, 2017.
While the proposed reduction in the amount of renewable fuel is relatively small, many in the biofuels industry are concerned that it sends the signal to the market that the U.S. renewable fuel industry will no longer grow. The proposed volume requirements may undercut the Administration’s goal of reducing U.S. reliance on foreign energy and reviving U.S. manufacturing, despite President Trump’s repeated pledge to support the ethanol industry.
As previously reported in the post EPA Announces Public Hearing On RFS Program, EPA will hold a Public Hearing for Standards for 2018 and Biomass-Based Diesel Volume for 2019 Under the RFS Program to listen to arguments from all interested stakeholders to inform future rulemakings on the volume requirements. The hearing will take place at 9:00 a.m. on August 1, 2017, in Washington, D.C. EPA has until November 30, 2017, to issue the rulemaking in final.
