EPA Sends RFS Plans to Next Phase as Nov. Deadline Approaches
EPA sent the proposed levels under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) for 2023 and beyond to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
EPA is facing a Nov. 30 deadline to propose the levels as part of a negotiated deal with Growth Energy which sued EPA for failing to deliver the proposed levels by the statutory deadline.
The Details
Each year, EPA sets a renewable fuel standard (RFS), which requires gas and diesel be blended with a minimum volume of renewable fuels.
Provisions in the Clean Air Act for the RFS projected target blending volumes of renewable fuel for the program only through 2022. EPA is required to establish new blending volumes 14 months ahead of the first year (2023).
“For years 2023 and thereafter, EPA must set those volumes based on an analysis of factors specified in the statute,” the agency said in the description of the proposed rule. “This rulemaking will establish volume requirements beginning in 2023.”
That leaves the door open for EPA to propose levels for multiple years through this rulemaking. Prior reports indicated that the agency would propose levels for 2023, 2024 and 2025.
EPA has just three weeks to meet the already extended Nov. 30 deadline. Growth Energy said that will be the final extension for the EPA plan.
More at Stake
The news follows the U.S. Government Accountability Office's (GAO) newly released study in the EPA's methods of enforcing the RFS. Based on the study, GAO offered seven recommendations, including that the EPA:
1. Develop new policies and procedures for making RFS decisions.
2. Construct a new approach to better meet its annual March deadline.
The agency partially agreed with the two listed recommendations but disagreed with all others.
More on renewable fuel:
EPA's Small Refinery Exemption Data Under Fire by U.S. Accountability Office
John Phipps: It's Now Less About the Supply of Oil, And More About Refining Capacity in the U.S.
EPA Faces Lawsuit for Ethanol’s Impacts on Endangered Species
