The Biden administration proposed on Tuesday a reduction in the amount of biofuels oil refiners have been required to blend into their fuel mix since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
EPA proposed to retroactively set total renewable fuel volumes at 17.13 billion gallons for 2020, including 12.5 billion gallons of conventional corn-based ethanol, reducing volumes from a previously finalized rule for that year at 20.09 billion gallons for total renewable fuels and 15 billion gallons for corn-based ethanol.
It also proposed to set total volumes at 18.52 billion gallons for 2021 and 20.77 billion gallons for 2022. The corn-based ethanol volumes would be 13.32 billion gallons for 2021 and return to the statutory 15 billion gallons in 2022.
EPA’s proposals for biomass-based biodiesel are 2.43 billion gallons in both 2020 and 2021, and 2.76 billion gallons in 2022.
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |
Cellulosic biofuel | 0.51 | 0.62 | 0.77 |
Biomass-based diesel | 2.43 | 2.43 | 2.76 |
Advanced biofuel | 4.63 | 5.20 | 5.77 |
Conventional renewable fuel | | | |
Total renewable fuel | 17.13 | 18.52 | 20.77 |
Supplemental standard | NA | NA | 0.25 |
EPA also proposed to add a 250-million-gallon “supplemental obligation” to the volumes proposed for 2022 and stated its intent to add another 250 million gallons in 2023. According to EPA, “This would address the remand of the 2014-2016 annual rule by the DC Circuit Court of Appeals in Americans for Clean Energy v. EPA.”
EPA also proposed a rejection of 65 pending applications for small refinery exemptions – waivers requested by smaller fuel producers seeking to be excused from the blending mandates for financial reasons. The action, which is not final, comes after a court decision that narrowed the situations in which the agency can grant exemptions.
USDA announced in tandem with EPA’s announcement $700 million in grants to biofuel producers as Covid-19 relief and another $100 million in support for biofuel infrastructure.
EPA will hold a virtual public hearing Jan. 4, 2022, on the proposed rules.
EPA may make electric vehicles eligible for RINs
EPA is considering making electric vehicle power generation eligible for renewable fuel credits, known as renewable identification numbers (RINs), when it unveils its 2023 biofuel blending mandates next year, a top official told Reuters. The White House has directed the agency to study how using renewable fuels to power electric vehicle charging could generate RINs under the nation’s biofuels program.
“We already are working on a proposal to set volumes for 2023 and beyond as the statute requires and right now we’re planning to address e-RINs as part of that proposal,” Joe Goffman, the acting head of the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation told Reuters.