A bipartisan coalition of 35 members of the House of Representatives says the Environmental Protection Agency should stop issuing small refiner exemptions to large or unqualified refiners. 

The EPA has approved 54 waivers through the Renewable Fuel Standard, totaling 2.61 billion ethanol-equivalent gallons of renewable fuels in the past year and a half, and has 40 more waiver petitions pending. 

 

In a letter, led by Representatives Cindy Axne of Iowa and Adrian Smith of Nebraska, the lawmakers say the “unprecedented rate of granting waivers is a betrayal of our rural communities.” 

The National Corn Growers Association and others welcomed the letter, saying the action sends a “strong message to EPA to stop granting unjustified waivers.” 

 

The lawmakers say the EPA must halt the process and reallocate waived gallons as intended by law. 

NCGA has consistently called on the Trump administration to “rein in RFS exemptions” for refiners with large profits, and account for waived biofuels blending and increase transparency in the process.