EPA Sets Final Renewable Fuels Standards for 2023, 2024, and 2025
On July 12, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a final rule establishing the applicable volumes and percentage standards for 2023 through 2025 for cellulosic biofuel, biomass-based diesel (BBD), advanced biofuel, and total renewable fuel. 88 Fed. Reg. 44468. The final rule also establishes the second supplemental standard addressing the judicial remand of the 2016 standard-setting rulemaking. Finally, according to EPA, the rule makes several regulatory changes to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program, including changes related to the treatment of biogas and other modifications to improve the program’s implementation. As reported in our June 28, 2023, blog item, the final volume targets (billion Renewable Identification Numbers (RIN)) are as follows:
| 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
| Cellulosic biofuel | 0.84 | 1.09 | 1.38 |
| BBDa | 2.82 | 3.04 | 3.35 |
| Advanced biofuel | 5.94 | 6.54 | 7.33 |
| Renewable fuel | 20.94 | 21.54 | 22.33 |
| Supplemental standard | 0.25 | n/a | n/a |
a BBD is given in billion gallons.
The rule will be effective September 11, 2023, except for amendatory instruction 30, which will be effective February 1, 2024, and amendatory instructions 41 and 42, which will be effective April 1, 2024.