EPA misses Renewable Fuel Standard deadline, may punt biofuel blending decision to Biden administration

The Environmental Protection Agency missed the Nov. 30 deadline to issue biofuel blending requirements for 2021 under the Renewable Fuel Standard, and may punt the decision to the Biden administration. Normally the EPA proposes the blending requirements for the coming year in July, but did not do so this year. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler blamed the pandemic, saying the steep decline in gasoline sales this year made it difficult to predict next year's demand, Chuck Abbott reports for the Food & Environment Reporting Network.

"The agency did send a proposed blending rule to the White House for review in May, but it was developed in a pre-covid world and requires substantial revisions, per industry sources," Ryan McCrimmon reports for Politico's "Weekly Agriculture."

Growth Energy, an ethanol and biofuels trade organization, told Wheeler it will file suit if the EPA doesn't finalize the rule within 60 days. "Effectively, the 60-day deadline means Wheeler can choose not to finalize volume standards for 2021, and turn the decision over to the first few days of President-elect Joe Biden's administration," Todd Neeley reports for DTN/The Progressive Farmer. "Biden has yet to announce a nominee to head EPA in his administration."

The missed deadline angered other ethanol and farming groups as well. National Farmers Union president Rob Larew said in a statement that the EPA's failure to act "is introducing yet more uncertainty to the biofuels industry – uncertainty that most farmers and biofuels producers can’t afford right now." Larew also accused the Trump administration of inappropriately using small-refinery exemptions to help the petroleum industry at the expense of ethanol producers.

Geoff Cooper, president of the Renewable Fuels Association, said it would probably be better to just let the Biden administration make the decisions, Abbott reports. "We are confident that the new EPA administrator, whoever it may end up being, will stop doing secret favors for oil refiners and ensure the RFS is implemented in a way that is consistent with the law and congressional intent," Cooper said.