The Biden administration on Friday rejected more than two dozen requests from oil refineries for exemptions from US biofuel blending requirements.
The decision by the Environmental Protection Agency is a blow to 15 unidentified small refiners that had applied for exemptions from requirements to blend renewable fuels with gasoline and diesel, arguing that the mandates were too costly.
However, the agency determined that none of the 26 rejected applications demonstrated that they experienced disproportionate economic hardship caused by meeting the mandates of the renewable fuel standard. The rejected applications sought fee relief for the 2016-2018 and 2021-2023 compliance years, an EPA official said.
The move is consistent with the EPA’s approach to the issue since President Joe Biden took office. Last year, the agency rescinded dozens of previously granted RFS waivers, as part of a bid to reorient the program after years of legal battles over the waivers. Although the RFS authorizes exemptions for some small refiners who can demonstrate that they have suffered financial hardship under the biofuels mandate, a federal court has held that exemptions can only be granted when those financial hardships are caused by compliance with the rules .
Biofuel advocates have argued against the exemptions, saying they reduce the RFS and dilute the power of annual blending requirements. Under the program, fuel importers and refiners are generally required to blend biofuels into their gasoline and diesel, or buy tradable credits known as renewable identification numbers from others who do so.
