A group of Senators urge the Environmental Protection Agency to not increase the Renewable Volume Obligation under the Renewable Fuel Standard for 2021. Specifically, the Senators asked Administrator Wheeler to use his statutory authorities under the Clean Air Act to cite “severe economic harm” and employ a general waiver to not increase the RVO for 2021. Given that COVID-19 has suppressed demand for gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel, the lawmakers claim any increase in the mandate would cause severe and outsized economic harm next year by raising costs for consumers, particularly at the gas pump. Additionally, the letter urges the EPA to not reallocate prior year obligations that would “increase burdens on refiners of all sizes, including small refiners.” Led by Senator Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican from West Virginia, the group states any increase in blending volume mandates would create “another drag” on the nation’s economy trying to recover from a pandemic
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