The focus on small refiner exemptions (SREs) continues, with 13 Republican senators calling on President Donald Trump to “prohibit the Secretary of Agriculture from influencing or interfering” with EPA decisions on SREs.
The lawmakers cite where the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) does call for input from the USDA chief, but point out that SREs is not one of them, noting the Clean Air Act “only authorize the [EPA] Administrator to consult with the Secretary of Energy on petitions for hardship relief from small refineries.”
Lawmakers are taking exception to recent comments by USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue that he was seeking to address the SRE issue, one that farmers and some other biofuel backers have flagged as reducing demand for ethanol.
But the lawmakers contend that the Trump administration has been correct in expanding the granting of SREs. Given that, they noted, “We would view any decisions to further delay, reduce, or deny hardship relief to small refineries, or reallocate the obligations of small refineries to other refineries, as the result of the Secretary of Agriculture’s impermissible interference. We are confident that others, including the federal courts, would do the same.”
EPA has continued to insist that SREs are called for by law.
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