Parts of the federal government, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation, remain shut down as the 116th Congress gavels into session. For the time being, however, there are minimal impacts on policies affecting motor fuels or highways. This could change, however, if the shutdown continues for several more weeks.
01-02-2019 The Environmental Protection Agency has sent its final renewable volume obligations for 2019 under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. This marks the final step before EPA’s proposed 2019 renewable fuel mandates are finalized. NATSO will meet with OMB to discuss the proposal in the coming days.
10-31-2018 NATSO submitted formal comments to the Environmental Protection Agency on August 17, outlining the off-highway fuel retailer community’s concerns with how the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) has been implemented in recent months, while providing the Agency several ideas for how the RFS can be improved. The comments are in response to the Agency’s proposed renewable fuel mandates for 2019. Those numbers will not be finalized until November.
08-20-2018 The Environmental Protection Agency on August 2 released its long-awaited proposal to freeze fuel efficiency standards for cars and light-duty trucks.
08-03-2018 A travel center executive testifying on behalf of NATSO told the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that the Agency needs a transparent process to guide its assessment of small refinery waiver requests to ensure that such exemptions don’t continue to undermine the law’s intent and decrease demand for biofuels.
07-18-2018 NATSO member Beth Westemeyer, Director of Business Development for Anew Travel and Fuel Centers, the retail arm of Zeeland Farm Services in Zeeland, Mich., is scheduled to testify July 18 at the Environmental Protection Agency’s public hearing in Ypsilanti, Mich., regarding the agency’s proposed renewable fuel standards for 2019 and the biomass-based diesel volume for 2020.
07-17-2018 NATSO, the national association representing truckstops and travel plazas, along with the Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America (SIGMA) and the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), submitted an amicus brief last week to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals providing support for the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) determination that the point of obligation under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) remain with refiners and importers. NATSO filed the brief in response to legal challenges from some refiners and importers that argue EPA should move the point of obligation to downstream entities.
07-10-2018 Scott Pruitt, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and one of President Trump’s most effective and controversial cabinet secretaries, resigned on July 5 amid continuing revelations about ethical lapses and investigations that plagued much of his tenure at the agency.
07-06-2018 A dozen members of Congress on June 20 asked Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt to stop granting small refineries hardship exemptions from their biofuel blending requirements under the Renewable Fuel Standard until he answers questions that would allow Congress to evaluate the program.
06-21-2018 The Environmental Protection Agency has published its final rule designating which areas of the country are not in attainment with the 2015 national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for ozone. Fifty-one areas, spread across 22 states and Washington, D.C., are not in attainment, EPA said. Now that nonattainment areas have been designated, state and local governments have up to three years to produce plans outlining how they will reduce emission levels and attain the standards. It is through these plans that states often must impose stricter standards for motor fuel, such as stricter product specifications and Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) requirements.
06-04-2018 In late March, Congress passed and President Trump signed a massive $1.3 trillion spending bill. The 2,232-page piece of legislation contained a plethora of policy changes that are important to […]
05-01-2018