A House bill would disclose names of refineries that receive hardship waivers under the Renewable Fuel Standard, a lightning-rod issue that has increasingly incensed both corn and oil interests.
"The waiver program is meant to benefit small refineries who argue that blending in ethanol would cause a hardship. But Democrats have targeted the program since it was revealed that some of those refineries were owned by major oil companies," Rebecca Beitsch reports for The Hill.
The bill, proposed in May by Agriculture Committee Chair Collin Peterson of Minnesota, is supported by a bipartisan group of committee members. It "would put an end to what Rep. Jerry McNerney [D-Calif.] called the 'secretive and capricious nature' of the waivers that largely keep recipients a secret due to business confidentiality concerns," Beitsch reports. A subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee reviewed the bill Tuesday. Rep. Bill Flores, R-Texas, said "We’re not going to find the perfect solution to give everyone 100 percent of what they want."
President Trump has tried to appease both oil and corn interests, but has largely ended up displeasing both. Corn and ethanol producers are angry because they've had to close plants and lay off workers due to the decrease in ethanol demand. But when the administration recently proposed requiring refiners to blend more ethanol into gasoline and allow year-round sales of E15 fuels, which contain 15 percent ethanol, both corn and oil producers opposed the plan, Beitsch reports.
Farm groups complained that the plan was a bait-and-switch tactic because the Environmental Protection Agency would require large refiners to add more ethanol based on government estimates instead of the actual number of exempted gallons. Refiners opposed the plan too, saying it was unfair to be subject to a government mandate on the issue, Beitsch reports.
"The waiver program is meant to benefit small refineries who argue that blending in ethanol would cause a hardship. But Democrats have targeted the program since it was revealed that some of those refineries were owned by major oil companies," Rebecca Beitsch reports for The Hill.
The bill, proposed in May by Agriculture Committee Chair Collin Peterson of Minnesota, is supported by a bipartisan group of committee members. It "would put an end to what Rep. Jerry McNerney [D-Calif.] called the 'secretive and capricious nature' of the waivers that largely keep recipients a secret due to business confidentiality concerns," Beitsch reports. A subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee reviewed the bill Tuesday. Rep. Bill Flores, R-Texas, said "We’re not going to find the perfect solution to give everyone 100 percent of what they want."
President Trump has tried to appease both oil and corn interests, but has largely ended up displeasing both. Corn and ethanol producers are angry because they've had to close plants and lay off workers due to the decrease in ethanol demand. But when the administration recently proposed requiring refiners to blend more ethanol into gasoline and allow year-round sales of E15 fuels, which contain 15 percent ethanol, both corn and oil producers opposed the plan, Beitsch reports.
Farm groups complained that the plan was a bait-and-switch tactic because the Environmental Protection Agency would require large refiners to add more ethanol based on government estimates instead of the actual number of exempted gallons. Refiners opposed the plan too, saying it was unfair to be subject to a government mandate on the issue, Beitsch reports.
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