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 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.”
11-27-2017 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 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 David Fialkov, NATSO’s Vice President of Government Relations, testified Aug. 1 at an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hearing examining the Agency’s proposed 2018 renewable volume obligations under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).
08-02-2017 On July 6, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed renewable volume obligations for 2018 under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The proposal also includes a proposed 2019 volume mandate for biomass-based diesel (the 2018 biomass-based diesel number was finalized in late 2016). The proposal represents the Trump Administration’s first real public statement of policy with respect to the RFS, and was closely watched by NATSO and the rest of the fuels community.
07-06-2017 A bipartisan group of 23 Senators asked the White House to keep the current compliance structure under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) arguing that changing it would undermine the intent of the program and lead to chaos in the marketplace.
03-17-2017 As the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) faces mounting pressure to reject petitions to change the current compliance structure under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), media coverage exploded last week amid the closing of EPA’s comment period claims that the White House struck a back room deal with the Renewable Fuels Association.
03-06-2017 NATSO has learned that President Trump is likely to issue an Executive Order as early as today directing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to shift compliance requirements under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) downstream from the refinery to the terminal rack.
02-28-2017 As the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) public comment period on the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) closes today, NATSO is encouraged by the vast support to keep the current compliance structure under the RFS. NATSO, in collaboration with other indust
02-22-2017