NBB Petitions EPA For Reconsideration And Stay Of CARBIO Approval

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 (RFS). NBB notes that EPA’s delay in establishing RFS volumes has
destabilized the U.S. biodiesel industry and the anticipated influx of
biodiesel, as a result of the CARBIO program approval, will only make the U.S.
situation worse. NBB separately filed a lawsuit challenging EPA’s alternate
renewable biomass tracking requirements. Nat’l Biodiesel Bd. v. EPA,
D.C. Cir. No. 15-1073 (Mar. 30, 2015). NBB asserts that EPA’s approval of the
CARBIO plan provides a new opportunity to review the tracking provisions that
were included in a 2010 rulemaking.