4 governors call on EPA to reject oil refineries’ attempts to avoid renewable fuel obligations - KCAU 9

LINCOLN, Neb. (KCAU) – The governors of Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, and South Dakota wrote a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts, Minnesota Tim Walz, and South Dakota Kristi Noem co-wrote a letter to call on the EPA to reject the oil refineries’ attempts to avoid renewable fuel obligations.

The four governors expressed their concern over the EPA’s willingness to consider 52 applications for retroactive small refinery exemptions (SREs).

“Even before the coronavirus pandemic, the misuse of small refinery waivers under the RFS caused a significant number of plants to partially or fully shut down. The resulting job losses, decreases in commodity purchases and prices, and shortages of co-products affect rural America every day. Your approval of these SRE ‘gap filings’ would only worsen the unprecedented economic challenges facing the renewable fuels industry and rural communities.”

From Governors Reynolds, Ricketts, Walz, and Noem

Under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), refiners must meet renewable volume obligations by blending renewable fuels into their gasoline or by purchasing credits equivalent to the required amount of renewable fuel.