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.
12-14-2017 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.
12-04-2017 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.
12-04-2017 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.
11-02-2017 The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on Oct. 27 halted implementation of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) first ever regulation for truck trailers.
10-30-2017 NATSO on Oct. 19 filed comments with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in response to the agency’s request for input on reducing renewable fuel mandates. Specifically, EPA has suggested that it is considering reducing annual renewable volume obligations (RVOs) by tying them to domestic renewable fuel production capacity, rather than the market’s ability to consume renewable fuel. NATSO, in its comments, told EPA that this policy shift would undercut the purpose of the RFS and ultimately lead to higher fuel prices for consumers.
10-20-2017 Truckstops and travel plazas with underground storage tanks are reminded that they officially have just one year left — until Oct. 13, 2018 — to meet the final requirements established in the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Final Rule revising underground storage tank regulations.
10-17-2017 The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Sept. 26 announced that it was seeking public comment on a new approach to establishing renewable fuel mandates under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS): Only considering domestic production capacity. If EPA ultimately adopts this new approach, it will substantially lower retailers’ incentives to incorporate renewable fuels into their fuel supply. NATSO opposes this policy shift, and in comments it will file with the Agency will urge EPA to recognize that there is a global market for renewable fuels, such as biodiesel, and that the RFS should accommodate fuels regardless of where they are produced.
09-27-2017 The Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is seeking nominations for the second phase of its multi-year plan to establish alternative fuel corridors for alternative fueling stations as mandated under the December 2015 highway bill.
09-25-2017 Hurricane Irma has now been downgraded to a tropical storm, though it is still battering Florida and Georgia, sending residual effects to states up the coast and in the south and mid-west. In Florida, about 65 percent of gas stations are reported to be out of gas, though prices have begun falling as the hurricane begins to wane. In the oil market, prices have fluctuated as the storm hit over the weekend. MarketWatch reports that the market has started to recover, though demand remains low and some refineries on the Gulf Coast are still closed.
09-11-2017 The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said Aug. 17 that it will revisit certain parts of the Obama Administration’s 2016 Phase 2 emissions rule for heavy-duty trucks, which set new standards for model years 2021-2027 of tractor-trailers, school buses, delivery vans and other large vehicles.
08-18-2017