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May 9, 2018
President Trump said May 8 that he is considering allowing the unrestricted sale of gasoline containing 15 percent ethanol and will let biofuel exports count toward refiners’ domestic renewable fuel obligations. The proposed changes follow months of fractious negotiations between the corn and oil industries over the future of the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). However, major elements of the compromise remained in dispute after the meeting between top administration officials and four senators ended.
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April 27, 2018
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on April 26 that the agency received more than 50 waiver petitions for small refineries to get out of their Renewable Fuel Standard requirements for the 2016 and 2017 compliance years. EPA has come under fire for abusing the waivers to quietly undercut the RFS after the agency exempted one of the nation’s largest oil refining companies from complying with the U.S. biofuels regulation.
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April 3, 2018
Effective May 1, all diesel sold in Minnesota must contain at least 20 percent biodiesel as the state officially implements the B-20 mandate passed in 2008.
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March 28, 2018
NATSO on March 26 sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice outlining the truckstop industry's opposition to a proposed settlement agreement for the bankrupt refinery Philadelphia Energy Solutions. The proposed settlement would absolve the refinery of many of its RIN obligations under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), and represents in many ways the latest iteration of the years-long battle between merchant refiners that strongly oppose the RFS and other segments of the fuels supply chain that have adjusted their business models based on the RFS's incentives.
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March 7, 2018
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released a guidance document outlining special one-time claim procedures for obtaining the $1.00 per gallon biodiesel blender tax credit for 2017. Notice 2018-21 prescribes rules for how taxpayers can claim one-time credits for selling or using biodiesel, renewable diesel, and other alternative fuels (such as natural gas) in 2017. The notice also outlines how entities can offset liability for federal gasoline and/or diesel taxes with the 2017 credits, and further provides instructions for how taxpayers can make certain income tax claims on biodiesel and alternative fuels.
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February 9, 2018
The budget deal that Congress passed on Feb. 8 restores the 9-cent-per-barrel tax on oil to pay for spill cleanups. The tax will not take effect until March 1, 2018, however, and will not be applied to transactions taking place between Jan. 1 and Feb. 28.
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February 9, 2018
Congress yesterday passed and President Trump signed legislation providing for a retroactive biodiesel blenders' tax credit for 2017, leaving the credit's status in 2018 and beyond uncertain. The measure was included as part of a larger budget package that will keep the federal government funded for the foreseeable future.
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December 20, 2017
NATSO joined nearly 60 organizations representing a variety of business, energy, transportation, and agriculture stakeholders in urging Congress to approve a seamless, multi-year extension of the tax extenders before the end of 2017.
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December 19, 2017
NATSO on Dec. 18 along with all major associations representing the biodiesel supply chain signed a letter urging leaders of the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Finance Committee to include a retroactive, multi-year extension of the biodiesel tax incentive in end of year legislation.
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December 14, 2017
For more than a decade, the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program has sought to improve the emissions characteristics of fuel and support the domestic biofuels sector, while increasing American energy independence and security. The program calls for increasing volumes of renewable fuels—known as renewable volume obligations (RVOs)—to be blended into the nation’s transportation fuel supply every year.
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December 6, 2017
The U.S. International Trade Commission on Dec. 5 made a final finding that biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia harm U.S. producers. The decision, coupled with last month's final countervailing duties determination by the Department of Commerce, paves the way for final countervailing duties orders by the end of December. NATSO disagrees with the outcome, preferring free trade policies, and maintains that limiting fuel marketers' access to supply from overseas will raise retail fuel prices. The decision does, however, obviate the need for Congress to convert the biodiesel tax credit from a blender credit to a producer credit, as this change was designed to limit imports in the first place.
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December 4, 2017
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works sent a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt Dec. 1 requesting that the agency complete several outstanding studies assessing the impact of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) on air, water, and land quality.
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December 4, 2017
Delia Moon Meier, owner and senior vice president of the Iowa 80 truckstop, recently applauded the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its recent decision to reject proposals to change the current compliance structure under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) as well as thanking Iowa Senator Joni Ernst for helping to lead that effort.
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December 1, 2017
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on November 30 finalized its renewable fuel volume mandates for 2018. The final renewable volume obligations (RVOs) are very similar to the Agency’s original proposed mandates that were released in July.
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November 28, 2017
The New England Fuel Institute (NEFI) and the New York State Energy Coalition (NYSEC) marked the latest organizations to urge lawmakers to retroactively extend the biodiesel blenders’ tax credit and phase it out over five years. In a letter to the Senate Finance Committee, NEFI and NYSEC said that proposals to shift the biodiesel tax credit to a producers’ credit would have an immediate and adverse effect on biodiesel supplies in the Northeast, including supply disruptions and an increase in consumer prices for biodiesel blended heating oil in New England and New York.
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November 27, 2017
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Nov. 22 rejected proposals to change the current compliance structure under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), ending a major push by merchant refiners and other obligated parties to shift what is commonly known as the point of obligation from refiners and importers to “rack sellers.”
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November 15, 2017
The National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) marked the second association in as many days to publicly express that although it supports the biodiesel blender’s tax credit it would prefer no credit rather than have it converted to a producer’s credit.
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November 15, 2017
The Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America on Nov. 14 told members of the Senate Finance Committee that although it supports the biodiesel blender’s tax credit, the association would prefer no credit rather than have it converted to a producer’s credit.
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November 2, 2017
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Nov. 1 submitted its proposed rule for the 2018 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) renewable volume obligations -- and 2019 obligations for biomass-based diesel -- to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for interagency review. This marks the final step before the proposal is published in the Federal Register and open for public comment.
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October 31, 2017
NATSO and a diverse group of biodiesel producers, fuel retailers and trucking interests representing every segment of the biodiesel supply chain sent a letter the Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means Committee on Oct. 31 in support of extending and phasing out the biodiesel blenders’ tax credit, and outlining their opposition to efforts to shift the credit to a producers’ credit as the tax-writing committees consider tax reform legislation.
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