Small Refinery Exemption Litigation Update
Podcast - An Update on the Renewable Fuel Standard Final Rule
Renewable Diesel: The Next Generation Of Biofuels
The U.S. Supreme Court issued a pair of decisions in EPA v. Calumet Shreveport Refining and Oklahoma v. EPA on June 18, 2025, resolving two related circuit splits regarding proper venue for challenging certain U.S....more
With a renewed focus on domestic energy production and regulatory reform, the incoming administration signals significant shifts in U.S. energy and climate priorities. The incoming Trump Administration will prioritize...more
On November 30, 2023, the Commission denied the Minnesota Municipal Power Agency’s (“MMPA”) complaint alleging that Northern Natural Gas Company (“Northern”) violated the Natural Gas Act (“NGA”) by refusing to execute an...more
On November 16, 2023, FERC granted Virginia Electric and Power Company d/b/a Dominion Energy Virginia’s (“Dominion”) petition requesting the Commission declare that Dominion’s planned liquefied natural gas (“LNG”) production,...more
On September 19, 2023, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued its conclusions after conducting an audit of EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) Moderated Transaction System (EMTS)...more
On the fourth and final day of the 2023 World Petroleum Congress in Calgary, Bennett Jones' Shawn Munro and Luke Morrison spoke with conference attendees about biofuels and renewable natural gas (RNG) from both regulatory and...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 Energy Marketers of America (“EMA”) submitted February 10th comments to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) addressing the proposed: See Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2021-0427....more
2022 saw a flurry of renewable natural gas (RNG)-related deals, including in anticipation of (and then in response to) the historic Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Sustainability mandates and the growing maturity of...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
The Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) has recently finalized volumes for compliance years 2020, 2021, and 2022 under the Clean Air Act (“CAA”)’s renewable fuel standard (“RFS”) program and took several other related...more
In 2021, we witnessed a number of important developments in the future role of hydrogen as part of the United States’ energy transition pathway. President Biden has empowered the secretary of energy, through new legislation...more
On December 7, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) released its proposed 2020, 2021, and 2022 Renewable Volume Obligations (“RVOs”). RVOs determine the amount of renewable fuel (typically, ethanol) certain...more
Find out why knowing the difference between renewable diesel and biodiesel can go a long way in understanding the benefits of each....more
Steve Roberts, Director in Opportune LLP’s Process & Technology practice, discusses the difference between biodiesel and renewable diesel, renewable diesel’s growth prospects, and how some oil refineries are repurposing...more
In its June 25, 2021 decision in HollyFrontier Cheyenne Refining, LLC v. Renewable Fuels Association, the Supreme Court rejected the central holding of a January 2020 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth...more
On June 25, 2021, the Supreme Court decided HollyFrontier Cheyenne Refining, LLC v. Renewable Fuels Association, et al., Slip Op. 20-472 (June 25, 2021), which concerned small refiners’ eligibility for hardship exemptions...more
On June 25, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court decided HollyFrontier Cheyenne Refining LLC v. Renewable Fuels Association, No. 20-472, holding that a small refinery can apply for a hardship exemption from the Environmental...more
On June 25, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with small oil refineries by making it easier for the companies to win exemptions from the existing mandate that they mix ethanol and other renewable fuels into gasoline and...more
The United States Energy Information Administration (“EIA”) issued a report titled: EIA Projects U.S. Biofuel Production to Slowly Increase Through 2050 (“Report”) EIA’s projection is based on its publication Annual...more
On December 19, 2019, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued its final rule for renewable fuel volume requirements for 2020 under the Renewable Fuel Standard (“RFS”) program. The rule establishes the amount of...more
While the high-profile and politically-charged failure of the Oregon legislature to pass cap-and-trade legislation has garnered much public attention, Oregon nonetheless adopted less high-profile but important energy...more
On August 21, 2019, Iowa Democratic Representative Cindy Axne asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Inspector General (IG) to investigate how EPA decided to grant the exemptions from the Renewable Fuel...more
On May 31, 2019, the Federation of Petroleum Suppliers (FPS) launched Clean Growth Future Vision, a document outlining FPS’ vision for cutting carbon through the development of biofuels. FPS is a trade association for the...more
On April 29, 2019, the National Chicken Council submitted a letter to EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality outlining the potentially negative impact of the changes to the biofuels policy on the poultry industry. In...more