EPA Releases Proposed 2014 RFS Rule And Requests Comment On RFS Waiver Request

On November 15, 2013, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy signed the long-awaited and much anticipated Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to set the 2014 renewable volume obligations (RVO) under the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Included in the NPRM is a proposal to repeal retroactively the 2011 cellulosic RVOs and refund obligated parties nearly $5 million to recover their costs for trying to meet them. Simultaneously, the Agency issued a pre-publication of its request for comment on several petitions it has received from the American Petroleum Institute (API), American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM), and individual obligated parties requesting that EPA grant a partial waiver of the 2014 RFS statutory RVOs. Copies of the pre-published NPRM and the pre-published request for comment notice are available online.

The NPRM appears to be similar to the draft of it that was leaked publicly last month. It marks a shift in EPA's implementation of the RFS, as it proposes to reduce the overall and advanced RVOs, in addition to the cellulosic RVOs. EPA cites blend wall concerns for the proposed overall and advanced reductions. The Agency proposes to maintain the 2013 RVOs for biodiesel in both 2014 and 2015 at a level of 1.28 billion gallons. The cellulosic, advanced, and total renewable RVO gallons contained in the RFS statute for 2014 are: 1.75 billion for cellulosic, 3.75 billion for advanced, and 18.15 billion for total renewable fuel (the RVO for corn starch ethanol is this number minus those for advanced, cellulosic and biodiesel). The proposed RVO gallons for 2014 are: 17 million for cellulosic, 2.2 billion for advanced, and 15.21 billion for total renewable.

Advocates on both sides have ramped up their advocacy since the release of the NPRM. The oil industry continues to call for full repeal of the RFS through the legislative process and the biofuels industry has denounced EPA's shift in RFS implementation, stressing the importance of the stability of the RFS to continue investment in biofuels, especially advanced and cellulosic biofuels. In addition, new groups have formed to add to the debate. A veterans group, VoteVets.org, and Americans United for Change have plans for a media campaign to support ethanol and the RFS. The Bipartisan Policy Center is forming an advisory committee of biofuels stakeholders to develop proposals for RFS reform. Just before the release of the NPRM, a group of 32 Senators, including Patty Murray (D-WA), Al Franken (D-MN), Roy Blunt (R-MO), and Chuck Grassley (R-IA), sent a letter to EPA, calling on the Agency to increase the biodiesel RVO for 2014 instead of holding it at this year's levels as was proposed in the leaked draft 2014 RFS proposed rule (and as is maintained in the official NPRM).

A hearing will be held on December 5, 2013, beginning at 9:00 a.m. at the Hyatt Regency in Crystal City located in Arlington, Virginia. A copy of the notice is available online.