The levels proposed by EPA for 2020 biofuel and 2021 biodiesel under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) drew criticism from ethanol industry backers, including Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.
"It is unacceptable that EPA would set biofuel volumes below demand at a time when farmers, biofuels producers and agribusiness owners are forced to shed jobs and close plants," Grassley said in a statement. “I urge President Trump to compel EPA to reverse course and keep his word to the forgotten Americans who have faithfully stood with him."
The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) also leveled criticism at the proposal, with President and CEO Geoff Cooper saying, “EPA appears to be selling out to oil refiners — again — at the expense of rural America.”
“As long as EPA continues to dole out compliance exemptions to oil refiners without reallocating the lost volume, the agency may as well start referring to the annual RFS levels as ‘renewable volume suggestions’ rather than ‘renewable volume obligations,’” Cooper continued. “It is a complete misnomer to call these blending volumes ‘obligations’ when EPA’s small refinery bailouts have essentially transformed the RFS into a voluntary program for nearly one-third of the nation’s oil refineries.”
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