The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a decision on 175 petitions from 38 refineries seeking small refinery exemptions (SREs) from the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) programme’s volume requirements for compliance years 2016–2024.
In its ruling, EPA granted 63 full exemptions, 77 partial exemptions, denied 28 petitions, and deemed seven ineligible.
The agency noted that it will publish a supplemental notice on the reallocation of lost volumes for compliance years 2023–2025, and will adjust the standards for 2026 and 2027 to account for small refinery exemptions.
For years 2016–2022, EPA determined that expired Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) should not affect finalized volume requirements.
EPA emphasised that its approach is aimed at safeguarding the integrity of RFS volumes already in place.
Responding to the announcement, RNG Coalition Senior Director for Federal Government Affairs Geoffrey Dietz welcomed the decision:
“We appreciate EPA’s efforts to ensure the integrity of the RFS volume requirements in light of its decisions on small refinery exemptions. We do not believe Congress intended these exemptions to undermine the volume requirements, which are intended to promote renewable fuel production and use. We further applaud EPA’s efforts to seek public input and to provide transparency on its approach to small refinery exemptions moving forward.”
Dietz added that the RNG Coalition will continue to evaluate forthcoming EPA proposals to ensure prior year volumes are preserved and reaffirmed the Coalition’s commitment to advancing the economic, energy security and environmental benefits of the RFS programme.
RNG Coalition applauds EPA’s efforts to enforce RFS volume requirements
