Small Refinery Exemption Litigation Update
Podcast - An Update on the Renewable Fuel Standard Final Rule
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”), which administers the federal renewable fuels program known as the Renewable Fuel Standards (“RFS”), has long considered the potential impact of electric vehicles on the RFS....more
The $369 billion Inflation Reduction Act (the “Act”) enacted in August 2022 expanded and extended numerous tax credits and incentive programs for development of clean energy projects. The biogas industry is one sector...more
Although ethanol is one of the earliest biotechnologies, it wasn’t until the energy crisis of the 1970s that ethanol was widely used as an additive to gasoline. Back then, concerns about the price of fuel and the impact of...more
On December 7, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) released its proposed 2020, 2021, and 2022 Renewable Volume Obligations (“RVOs”). RVOs determine the amount of renewable fuel (typically, ethanol) certain...more
The major policy differences between President Trump and Former Vice President Joe Biden on regulations governing energy and the environment could have major impacts on the energy transition. Former Vice President Biden, if...more
On December 19, 2019, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued its final rule for renewable fuel volume requirements for 2020 under the Renewable Fuel Standard (“RFS”) program. The rule establishes the amount of...more
Trump's EPA Grants 31 Small Refinery Waivers from Biofuel Laws, Angering Corn Lobby - "The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has granted 31 small refinery biofuel waivers for 2018, infuriating the ethanol and corn...more
On April 29, 2019, the National Chicken Council submitted a letter to EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality outlining the potentially negative impact of the changes to the biofuels policy on the poultry industry. In...more
On July 20, 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (Fourth Circuit) ruled that EPA must reconsider its denial of Ergon-West Virginia, Inc.’s (Ergon) application for a small refinery waiver under the RFS. The...more
The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is a regulatory program administered by EPA that requires petroleum-based transportation fuel sold in the U.S. to contain a minimum volume of various categories of biofuels. The program’s...more
On October 30, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) submitted a draft final rule for review to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that would reduce the amount of biofuels that must be...more
On May 29, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its long-awaited proposed volume obligations for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) for 2014, 2015 and 2016, as well as volume obligations for...more
The White House is reviewing EPA's proposed rules to set the 2014, 2015, and 2016 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) requirements. The proposals are not currently publicly available, but EPA has committed to propose them by June...more
On April 10, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lodged with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia a proposed consent decree to resolve litigation challenging the delay in issuing Renewable...more
On November 21, 2014, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that a final Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) for 2014 will not be issued by the end of the year. The compliance deadline for the 2013 RFS will be...more
An increasingly pitched battle between business and agricultural interests over the blending of ethanol in gasoline has turned its focus to EPA’s rulemaking mandate which sets the minimum volume of renewable fuel sold...more
With most of the energy sector’s attention focused this month on what the Environmental Protection Agency is doing with its proposed 111(d) rule regulating carbon emissions, less was said about what the agency did not do:...more
Today, December 18, 2013, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a Notice of Violation (NOV) of the Clean Air Act’s Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) to e-Biofuels, LLC and its parent company Imperial Petroleum,...more
With Congress out for the August recess, this week’s major energy-related announcements came from the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency....more