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Biofuel groups weigh in on “good, bad, and ugly” in RFS proposal
The comment period for EPA’s proposed Renewable Volume Obligations for 2020, 2021, and 2022 has closed.
Iowa Renewable Fuels Association executive director Monte Shaw sums up the proposal as “good, bad, and ugly.
“The 2022 levels that were proposed were good. They were in line with the statute (of) 15 billion gallons for corn ethanol, and pretty decent numbers for advanced biofuels like biodiesel.”
He calls the proposal for 2021 bad because the RVO was lowered quite a bit.
“But the real troubling thing, we called it ugly because it’s bad now but bad for the future, is they actually proposed to reopen the 2020 rule which had been finalized two years into the Trump administration.”
He says by retroactively cutting RVO’s, there’s no certainty EPA will follow through on future obligations.
Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor says if finalized, the unnecessary cuts would create further uncertainty in the renewable fuel marketplace.
American Coalition for Ethanol CEO Brian Jennings advises EPA to withdraw the proposed cut for 2020 and maintain volumes realized during that year.
Shaw suggests 30 to 60 days is typically how long it takes for EPA to issue a final rule once the comment period has closed.
