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Jul 17, 2023
July 17, 2023. Washington, D.C. The Environmental Protection Agency has denied 26 Small Refinery Exemption petitions for the Renewable Fuel Standard spanning compliance years 2016-2018 and 2021-2023, demonstrating the agency’s continued commitment to ending the backlog of pending SREs.
ASA applauds EPA for its continued transparent and fair assessment of SREs through more stringent hardship and economic impact requirements and appreciates efforts to uphold the integrity of the RFS. Historically, significant SRE approvals without clear and consistent metrics for evaluation created vast market uncertainty and undermined the intent of the RFS, creating a challenging environment for continued growth in the biomass-based diesel industry.
EPA has worked in recent years to develop new parameters for petition approvals that have proven effective at strengthening the RFS. ASA is pleased with this progress and hopes EPA will continue to work with the biofuels industry to implement the RFS as intended.
With the finalization of these 26 SRE petition denials, EPA has cut down SRE backlogs significantly, with only two outstanding petitions remaining from compliance year 2018.
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