Oil-state Republicans are asking President Trump to tell Secretary of Ag Sonny Perdue to basically “stay in his lane” when it comes to the Environmental Protection Agency.
A DTN report says they want Perdue to stay out of the EPA’s decision-making when it comes to small refinery waivers under the Renewable Fuels Standard.
Perdue recently said that he would be getting more involved with the EPA and how it approves those small refinery waivers.
Those comments prompted 13 Republican senators to fire off a letter to Trump asking him to rein in his Ag Secretary.
“We strongly oppose giving Secretary Perdue any role in the decision-making process over the petitions,” the letter says.
The senators pointed out that the Clean Air Act doesn’t give the ag secretary any authority or role in granting the small refinery petitions.
The biofuels industry and its supporters note that the exemptions have reduced ethanol use by approximately 2.6 billion gallons, all while 38 refiners are standing in line and waiting for the EPA to decide on a large list of new exemptions.
A dozen senators representing ethanol states wrote the EPA earlier this month and asked the agency to stop granting the exemptions and to reallocate the fuel blending volumes that have been waived off because of the exemptions.