Additional decisions by the Trump administration on waivers under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) are not likely to be made before the November 3 elections, according to Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.
The issue of small refinery exemptions (SREs) has gained in focus in the wake of the 10th Circuit Court ruling that in order to qualify for these waivers, refiners had to have requested them on an annual basis since 2011.
"I think the president showed his pro-ethanol credentials by what he said about the 'gap waivers,' and that was a big win for biofuels from President Trump," Grassley said in a call with reporters.
EPA data shows that there are still 17 of the gap-year SRE requests pending for the 2011-2018 compliance years, and now another 33 requests pending for the 2019 and 2020 compliance years combined.