(NAFB) – The Biden administration plans to issue its proposals on how much biofuel refiners have to blend into the nation’s fuel supply for this year and 2022.
Sources familiar with the discussions say officials are reaching out to lawmakers to talk about the move that could come within days. The administration delayed the 2021 blending obligations by over a year and missed a deadline to finalize the 2022 obligations last week. A source told Reuters that the Environmental Protection Agency has told at least two Democratic lawmakers to expect retroactively lower volumes for 2021 and 2022.
The oil and biofuel industries have both called for the EPA to announce the proposals, saying the delays are creating uncertainty in the fuel market. The delays came as COVID-19 continued to push fuel demand to low levels and while Democratic lawmakers focused attention on other legislation.
Officials in the EPA, which oversees the mandates, declined to give specifics on the timing of the announcement.