On March 25, 2015, EPA announced the direct final rule, Regulation of Fuels and Fuel Additives: Cellulosic Waiver Credit Price and Minor Amendments to Renewable Fuel Standard Regulations, that would result in cellulosic waiver credit prices being posted on the EPA website rather than as a result of the rulemaking process. This would allow the credit prices to be announced as soon as the needed data for the wholesale price of gasoline is available, which would provide more certainty to the...
On March 30, 2015, the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) submitted a petition to EPA seeking reconsideration and a request for stay of EPA's approval of the Argentinian Camara Argentina de Biocombustibles (CARBIO) Alternative Biomass Tracking Program. According to the NBB press release, EPA failed to provide an opportunity for public comment on the EPA decision and a lack of transparency as to how the Argentinian biodiesel producers will demonstrate compliance with the Renewable Fuel Standard...
On March 30, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) withdrew a Direct Final Rule for Partial Exemption of Certain Chemical Substances from Reporting Additional Chemical Data. The direct final rule, issued in January 2015, would have exempted manufacturers of six biobased diesel chemicals from reporting processing and use information for the compounds under the Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) rule. It resulted from a regulatory petition filed by the Biobased and Renewable Advocacy...
On March 26, 2015, Mr. David Saltman, Chairman of Biobased and Renewable Products Advocacy Group (BRAG®) member company Malama Composites, spoke at NPE2015: The International Plastics Showcase on "Designing the Future: How Materials Can Change the World."
March 27, 2015
Legislation Introduced In Senate To Phase Out RFS
On March 18, 2015, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) introduced S. 791, "The American Energy Renaissance Act of 2015." Representative Jim Bridenstine (R-OK) introduced companion legislation, H.R. 1487. The legislation would phase out the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), approve the Keystone XL pipeline, open Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil and gas exploration, and stop EPA from regulating GHG emissions. Under the bill, the RFS would start to be phased out in 2016 with a 20 percent reduction...
March 27, 2015
Pennycress Oil Notice Published In The Federal Register
On March 20, 2015, the Notice of Opportunity to Comment on an Analysis of the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Attributable to Production and Transport of Pennycress (Thlaspi Arvense) Oil for Use in Biofuel Production that was discussed in the March 19, 2015, Biobased and Renewable Products Update was published in the Federal Register. The docket number is EPA-HQ-OAR-2015-0091 and comments on the notice close on April 20, 2015.
March 27, 2015
EPA Requests Information On Cellulosic Biofuels And E15
EPA is accepting public comments through May 26, 2015, on two proposed information collection requests (ICR) published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, March 24, 2015. The proposed ICRs concern projected cellulosic biofuels volumes and gasoline containing greater than 10 volume percent ethanol up to 15 volume percent ethanol (E15). Comments received will assist EPA as the agency prepares to submit the final ICRs to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for its official approval and...
On March 19, 2015, the White House published an Executive Order signed by President Obama that would further a preference for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) BioPreferred products. Planning for Federal Sustainability in the Next Decade sets new greenhouse gas (GHG) emission targets for federal agencies to reach by 2025 and increases renewable energy use and building efficiency, while reducing fleet emissions in the federal government. The new targets would reduce total GHG emissions by 26...
March 27, 2015
Senate EPW Committee Holds Hearing On TSCA Reform Bill
On March 18, 2015, the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) held a hearing on the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (S. 697). Supporters of S. 697 maintain that it significantly improves the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) by providing more authority and funding to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate new and existing chemicals. Critics of the bill argue that while the perfect may be the enemy of the good, S. 697 is not...
DOE's Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) and the Clean Energy Research and Educational Foundation (CEREF) are co-hosting Bioenergy 2015: Opportunities in a Changing Energy Landscape, scheduled for June 23-24, 2015, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. This year's conference will focus on opportunities and challenges in our current highly dynamic energy ecosystem.