Recently, the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) filed a petition to defend the biodiesel industry’s interest under the Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS), with the federal court. The petition contests the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) view, use of its waiver authority and its reductions in the statutory Advanced Biofuel volumes within the RFS program. This is one of several lawsuits filed by RFS investors within the last several weeks in regards to the RFS volumes finalized last year.

NBB will likely challenge additional lawsuits on EPA’s behalf to defend the agency’s handling of other aspects of the RFS program, such as supporting EPA's authority to provide for increases in the biomass-based diesel program against challenges by the petroleum industry; as well as challenging other areas of EPA’s final RFS standards for 2014-2016.

NBB made the following statement in regards to the recent lawsuit, “We appreciate the work that the EPA did last year to improve the final RFS rule to pave the way for modest growth in the Biomass-based Diesel category and to get the RFS program back on track. And as we have in the past, we will likely be intervening on EPA’s behalf in defense of the program against other lawsuits. But we have significant concerns in this rule about the EPA’s use of waiver authority and the methodology the EPA used to reduce the statutorily required Advanced Biofuel volumes. The law requires that the EPA should be establishing the strongest standards possible to ensure that the RFS is stimulating the production of Advanced Biofuels like biodiesel and renewable diesel, and we believe they fell short of that requirement.”

Click here to view the filed petition.