EPA Approves RFS Pathways for Certain Biofuels Produced from Canola/Rapeseed Oil

By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton
 
On December 2, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a final rule determining that renewable diesel, jet fuel, heating oil, naphtha, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) produced from canola/rapeseed oil via a hydrotreating process all meet the lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction threshold of 50 percent required for advanced biofuels and biomass-based diesel (BBD) under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program. 87 Fed. Reg. 73956. EPA states that based on the analyses described in the earlier notice of proposed rulemaking associated with this action, it is adding these pathways to the list of approved pathways in the RFS regulations, making them eligible to generate Renewable Identification Numbers (RIN), provided they satisfy the other definitional and RIN generation criteria for renewable fuel specified in the RFS regulations. EPA also amended the RFS regulations by adding a new definition of “canola/rapeseed oil.” The final rule was effective on January 3, 2023.