U.S. House Democrats Send Letter Asking EPA to Stop Issuing RFS Waivers

On Oct. 15, nineteen House Democrats sent a letter to the EPA urging the Trump administration to stop granting waivers to small refineries that exempt them from biofuel blending requirements under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The letter, led by Reps. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) and Danny Davis (D-IL), states that the waivers have “cut blending targets by 2.25 billion gallons, contributing to higher gas prices and elevated levels of harmful emissions.”

Lawmakers also urged EPA to redistribute waived quotas to other non-exempt refineries. However, EPA issued a proposed rule earlier this year that would increase total renewable fuel volume by 590 million gallons from 2018 to 2019 but does not force large refiners to make up for the gallons of obligated blending volume lost in 2018 due to these small refinery waivers.