EPA Asks Court to Invalidate Three Trump Administration Small Refinery Exemptions
EPA SREs Thrown Out 050521
The EPA is asking a court to invalidate three small refinery exemptions (SREs) given to Sinclair Oil. The agency is petitioning the Tenth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals over the issue.
Sinclair Oil was granted the exemptions late in the Trump administration; however, the EPA said in a court filing that the SREs were quote "outside the scope of the EPA's statutory authority,"
and that there was "substantial uncertainty" E-P-A had conducted any analysis on the legal question of whether the refineries were eligible to receive the exemptions.
Groups like the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) welcomed the news.
“We strongly support EPA’s request for vacatur and remand of these three midnight-hour exemptions that were handed out to Sinclair in the waning moments of the Trump administration," says RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper. "If allowed to stand, these improperly granted exemptions would have erased demand for another 260 million gallons of low-carbon renewable fuels, undermining the rural communities that depend on a strong RFS. We are greatly encouraged by EPA’s actions, which are consistent with President Biden’s commitment to stem the tide of unwarranted refinery exemptions and put the RFS back on track.”
RFA says the 'midnight-hour exemption" happened with less than 24 hours remaining before the inauguration of President Joe Biden. The three small refinery exemptions were issued to unidentified refineries, which RFA says allowed those facilities out of their Renewable Fuel Standard compliance obligations for 2018 and 2019.
