The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday invalidated three small refinery exemptions (SREs) granted by the Trump administration to Sinclair Wyoming Refining Company, returning the matter to EPA for review. EPA sought the court action, arguing the SREs--one for the 2018 compliance year and two for the 2019 compliance year--had been fully examined.
Sinclair declined to oppose the EPA request.
Biofuel backers welcomed the action, with Renewable Fuels Association CEO Geoff Cooper hailing the court action as they agreed the waivers had been "improperly granted."
While a victory for biofuel supporters, the biofuel waiver issue is currently before the U.S. Supreme Court following an earlier Tenth Circuit decision that invalidated three SREs for the 2016 compliance year. And EPA has said they will not act on any pending SREs until after the nation's top court issues its ruling.
And the number of pending SREs continues to rise as EPA now shows there are 32 pending for the 2019 compliance year and 18 for the 2020 compliance year, an increase of two for both years.