10-15-19 NFU: EPA’s Biofuels Fix is Another Broken Promise to American Farmers

WASHINGTON – A week and a half after announcing its intentions to offset a portion of the 4 billion gallons of demand for biofuels eliminated due to the ongoing misappropriation of small refinery exemptions (SREs), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today released a supplemental proposed rule outlining how it plans to do so. Rather than basing relief on an actual three-year average of exempted gallons, as expected, the agency has instead suggested basing it on values recommended by the Department of Energy (DOE). The former would have increased the amount of biofuels in the transportation sector by approximately 1.35 billion gallons per year, while the latter will increase it by just 770 million gallons.

Though National Farmers Union (NFU) was initially hopeful that the proposal would reallocate the lost gallons based on a three-year average, the organization was disappointed to learn that EPA’s plan falls significantly short of that target.  NFU Vice President of Public Policy and Communications Rob Larew released the following statement in response to EPA’s announcement:

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“Again and again, the administration has made big promises to family farmers. And again and again, they have failed to deliver on those promises. We shouldn’t be surprised, then, when President Trump and the EPA swear to fully repair the harm inflicted by small refinery exemptions and then only offer half a solution.

“We might not be surprised, but we are still gravely disappointed. Family farmers have been burned too many times by broken promises and half-hearted support. If this administration wants to earn back their trust, they must make the biofuels industry whole by accounting for all of the gallons lost to these exemptions.”