Tuesday, January 14, 2020

GAO to review Trump administration's use of biofuel waivers

"The U.S. Government Accountability Office will review the Trump administration’s use of waivers exempting oil refineries from the nation’s biofuel blending requirements, according to a letter dated Friday, after lawmakers called for an investigation," Stephanie Kelly reports for Reuters.

In August, a bipartisan group of congressional representatives from corn-growing states like Iowa and Minnesota wrote a letter asking the GAO to review what factors the Environmental Protection Agency considered in approving the waivers in 2018 and examine the Energy Department's process for recommending exemptions to the EPA, Kelly reports. The lawmakers wrote that they wanted the review because excessive Renewable Fuel Standard waivers have harmed rural communities. On Jan. 10, a GAO representative wrote to confirm that the GAO will begin the review "shortly."

The RFS requires that refineries add a certain amount of ethanol into their gasoline. The waivers are meant to protect financially distressed small refineries by eliminating the expense of blending ethanol into their gasoline, but corn and ethanol producers and processors have accused the Trump administration of improperly granting them as a boon to the petroleum industry, Kelly reports.

"The EPA has roughly quadrupled the number of waivers it has been granting to oil refineries since Donald Trump became president. The agency has also routinely waived higher volumes than the DOE has recommended," Kelly reports. The increased waivers, plus lower demand, have caused at least 18 ethanol plants to shutter and has left many corn growers without buyers.

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