Photo of a person's hand using a green fuel nozzle to fill their car with biofuel.

Regulatory agency suggests reducing statutory volumes, citing market constraints and limited cellulosic fuel availability

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently proposed 2014, 2015, and 2016 biofuel volume requirements for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program. The proposals call for an annual increase in required blending, but still falls below statutory levels sought by the renewable fuels industry.

Specifically, the proposed rulemaking includes national volume requirements and the associated percentage standards used to determine the Renewable Volume Obligation (RVO). The RVO is the volume of renewable fuel that each obligated party (oil refiners and gasoline and diesel importers) is required to blend into their gasoline or diesel.

In the EPA proposal, the agency exercised its authority to reduce statutory volumes laid out in the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007. It cited market constraints in accommodating increasing volumes of ethanol, along with limits on the availability of non-ethanol renewable fuels. Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA is required to set the annual standards for the RFS program.

EPA expects to publish the final rule by November 30, 2015.

For more information, read the full EPA proposal.

  • Kendall Septon, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
  •  
  • For more information:
  • Clean Cities Technical Response Service Team
  • technicalresponse@icfi.com
  • 800-254-6735