A federal appeals court has rejected the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s 2022 decision to exclude small oil refineries from the nation’s biofuels blending programme and has asked the agency to review the issue, Reuters wrote.
The decision by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia was a win for the refining industry, which has opposed federal requirements under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) that biofuels such as corn-based ethanol should be blended into the nation’s fuel, the 26 July report said.
Further details of the court decision were not disclosed.
Designed to help farmers and reduce US petroleum imports, oil refiners – particularly smaller independent ones – have claimed the RFS programme imposes costs that put their businesses at risk.
The EPA can award exemptions to small refiners if they prove the obligations cause them undue harm.
In 2022, the agency rejected a series of requests, triggering the legal battle initiated by refiner Sinclair Wyoming Refining Company and then joined by others, Reuters wrote.
The biofuel industry, including corn-based ethanol producers, have campaigned against the small refinery waiver programme, claiming that it had been overused in a way that helped the oil industry but impacted US farmers, the report said.
At the time of the report, Sinclair Wyoming had not responded to Reuters’ request for comment.
Biofuels groups said they were “extremely disappointed” by the court’s decision.
“We will evaluate our next steps, which may include seeking further review of today’s decision. Our coalition remains resolute and committed to protecting and defending the proper implementation of the RFS,” the Renewable Fuels Association, Growth Energy and the American Coalition for Ethanol were quoted as saying in a statement on 26 July.
The EPA said it was reviewing the court’s decision.
In a separate but related case last year, a US appeals court struck down the EPA’s blanket denials of small refinery exemptions, the report said.
