The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has sent its 2014 biofuels proposal to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review, with next year’s targets due to be proposed later this month and finalized by year’s end.
Although targets have not yet been revealed, EPA said in early August that it planned to reduce both the advanced biofuel and total renewable volumes in its 2014 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) volume requirement. Currently, the law would require the use of 18.15 billion gallons of biofuels in 2014, up from 16.55 billion gallons this year.
Pressure is mounting for lawmakers to either repeal or reform the RFS, amid concerns about the looming blend wall, the point at which adding the EPA-mandated volume of ethanol to gasoline supplies would result in ethanol blends that exceed 10 percent, and the rising price of renewable identification numbers (RINs).
Oil refiner Valero Energy Corp. on Sept. 10 asked the Obama Administration to waive U.S. ethanol mandates, citing the rapidly rising cost of RINs and the high cost of achieving volume targets. Valero is pushing for lawmakers to repeal the RFS and develop new legislation to meet the changing needs of the oil market.
It is unclear if the EPA will meet its target deadline of late September for issuing the 2014 targets. The 2013 volume requirements were released several months late and weren't finalized until August, almost a year late.
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