Small Refinery Exemption Litigation Update
Podcast - An Update on the Renewable Fuel Standard Final Rule
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on June 13, 2025, issued a proposed rule, "Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) Program: Standards for 2026 and 2027, Partial Waiver of 2025 Cellulosic Biofuel Volume Requirement, and...more
On June 17, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) published its proposed “Set 2” rule under the Renewable Fuel Standard (“RFS”) program (the “Set 2 Rule”). The Set 2 Rule proposes renewable volume obligations...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed a landmark rule revising the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program. This proposal – termed the “Set 2” Rule - marks the 20th anniversary of the RFS program and reflects...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final rule on March 14, 2025, extending the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) compliance reporting deadline for the 2024 compliance year. 90 Fed. Reg. 12109. As reported in...more
On January 8, 2025, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced $6 million in funding for three projects that will advance biofuel...more
On September 18, 2024, the Department of Treasury (the “Treasury”) and the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) (1) issued proposed regulations (the “Proposed Regulations”) providing guidance to taxpayers on the Alternative...more
The Transportation Energy Institute (“TEI”) issued a July 25th report titled: Balancing the Benefits of Biofuels: The Economics of U.S. Crop-Based Fuel Production (“Report”). The Report describes itself as a...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on April 3, 2024, that it has rescheduled its public webinar to discuss the implementation of the Biogas Regulatory Reform Rule (BRRR) provisions promulgated as part of...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”), which administers the federal renewable fuels program known as the Renewable Fuel Standards (“RFS”), has been grappling with the best approach to incorporating electric...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”), which administers the federal renewable fuels program known as the Renewable Fuel Standards (“RFS”), has long considered the potential impact of electric vehicles on the RFS....more
The $369 billion Inflation Reduction Act (the “Act”) enacted in August 2022 expanded and extended numerous tax credits and incentive programs for development of clean energy projects. The biogas industry is one sector...more
On May 25, 2021, U.S. Senators Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and House Representatives Randy Feenstra (R-IA), Ashley Hinson (R-IA), and Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) joined forces in a letter to urge President...more
The major policy differences between President Trump and Former Vice President Joe Biden on regulations governing energy and the environment could have major impacts on the energy transition. Former Vice President Biden, if...more
Trump's EPA Grants 31 Small Refinery Waivers from Biofuel Laws, Angering Corn Lobby - "The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has granted 31 small refinery biofuel waivers for 2018, infuriating the ethanol and corn...more
Last week, from April 3-5, 2019, Biofuels Digest hosted its annual Advanced Bioeconomy Leadership Conference (ABLC) in Washington, D.C. Among those present were various industry stakeholders, government representatives, and...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has included a new data portal on its website to promote greater transparency on small refineries exemptions to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). ...more
Under the Clean Air Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required to set renewable fuel percentage standards annually. On July 10, 2018, EPA announced a request for comments on a proposed rule to address...more
On March 8, 2018, Senator Tom Udall (D-NM) and Representative Peter Welch (D-VT) introduced companion legislation (S. 2519, H.R. 5212) in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives, respectively, to reform the...more
The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is a regulatory program administered by EPA that requires petroleum-based transportation fuel sold in the U.S. to contain a minimum volume of various categories of biofuels. The program’s...more
In this edition of Seyfarth Shaw’s Energy Insights Newsletter, our Energy and Clean Technologies team covers important developments in Q4 2015 for the energy industry including collateral tax benefits granted to YieldCos, the...more
In a memorandum dated October 15, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) stated that it plans to begin preliminary research on the lifecycle impacts of EPA’s renewable fuel...more
On September 15, 2015, the head of the EPA, Gina McCarthy, spoke at the Growth Energy Advocacy Conference about the need of the upcoming RFS rule to encourage long-term investment in advanced biofuels to successfully grow...more
On May 29, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its long-awaited proposed volume obligations for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) for 2014, 2015 and 2016, as well as volume obligations for...more
The White House is reviewing EPA's proposed rules to set the 2014, 2015, and 2016 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) requirements. The proposals are not currently publicly available, but EPA has committed to propose them by June...more
EPA announced that renewable fuels produced from sorghum biomass could qualify as cellulosic fuel under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). This is a result of a preliminary analysis of the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions...more