Cruz Says EPA Will Keep Handing Out Small Refiner Waivers

EPA has given "explicit promises" to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, that the agency will keep granting small refiner waivers under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and will not retroactively reallocate those waived obligations, according to a report from Bloomberg. Cruz said he extracted those pledges after working with other Republican senators to slow now-Administrator Andy Wheeler's nomination. Cruz said he and others extracted the pledge from Wheeler after warning that their votes were dependent on the administration continuing to lower the regulatory burden for oil refiners. EPA said it would not "backtrack" on what Cruz labeled "vital regulatory relief" by not granting the small refiner waivers. “We are going to hold the EPA and the administrator to those commitments,” Cruz said at the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers association meeting in San Antonio, Texas. “Those were public commitments that were necessary for his confirmation, and we fully expect him to follow through.”