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By Lynn L. Bergeson On May 22, 2019, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) introduced a bill (S. 1614) to amend the Clean Air Act (CAA) to modify the definition of “renewable biomass” under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).  The CAA currently prohibits the use of biomass from federal lands in the making of renewable fuels as defined by the RFS.  The bill would allow the use of biomass from certain federal lands needing ecological restoration in...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On April 30, 2019, 15 U.S. Senators signed and submitted a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator, Andrew Wheeler, urging him to protect U.S. consumers and account for the ethanol blend wall when setting annual target volumes under the Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS) requirements. According to the letter, a decrease in consumer demand for gasoline has occurred since the RFS Program was passed into law. Instead of the...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On April 29, 2019, the National Chicken Council submitted a letter to EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality outlining the potentially negative impact of the changes to the biofuels policy on the poultry industry. In his letter to EPA, Mike Brown, President of the National Chicken Council, reported concern with EPA’s proposal on year-round ethanol-15 (E15) use under the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) Program. The National Chicken Council believes that...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On April 17, 2019, the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA), a Biobased and Renewable Products Advocacy Group (BRAG®) member, spoke at a press conference alongside Iowa Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Naig, on how the approval of small-refinery exemptions (SRE) for the 2018 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) blend levels would undermine RFS in an irreversible way.  IRFA’s Executive Director, Monte Shaw, pointed out that under current conditions all a refinery...

By Lynn L. Bergeson In March 2019, the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), a conservation organization working across the U.S., published a report called New Research Findings Link Biofuel Mandate to Environmental Harm.  According to the report, the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and its implementation are leading to environmental disaster which involves the destruction of the monarch butterfly habitat, climate change acceleration, and drainage of western aquifers, amongst other issues....

CNBC, “Trump Energy Secretary Rick Perry ‘Absolutely’ Would Talk with Ocasio-Cortez About Green New Deal” Reuters, “Malaysia Threatens WTO Challenge to EU’s Move to Drop Palm Biofuel” CompositesWorld, “Bio4self Bio-based Autocomposite Wins JEC Innovation Award” Feedstuffs, “EPA’s RFS Waivers Cut Corn Demand by 900m bu.” NCSU News, “Transcription Factor Network Gets to Heart of Wood Formation” NHK World-Japan,...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On March 18, 2019, (EPA) announced a public hearing to be held for the proposed rule: “Modifications to Fuel Registrations to Provide Flexibility for E15: Modifications to RFS RIN Market Regulations.”  84 Fed. Reg. 9734.  The proposed rule would implement regulatory changes allowing E15 to take advantage of a Renewal Fuels Standard (RFS) program waiver. Currently, the 1-psi Raid Vapor Pressure (RVP) waiver only applies to ten percent ethanol (E10) during...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On February 22, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a notice of a proposed partial consent decree in Sierra Club v. Pruitt.  This notice is in response to a complaint filed by the Sierra Club in October 2017 to the District of Columbia Court.  The complaint alleged that former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt “failed to perform a non-discretionary duty to assess and report to Congress on the environmental and...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On January 29, 2019, the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Geoff Cooper, submitted a letter to EPA Acting Administrator, Andrew Wheeler, regarding the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) Reset Rule. Addressing EPA’s final RFS rule that would be released in Spring 2019 resetting statutory RFS blending obligations for 2020, 2021, and 2022, as well as biomass-based diesel blending obligations for 2021 and 2022, the letter reflects...

Chemical & Engineering News, “US Requires Labeling of GMO Foods as ‘Bioengineered’” TradeArabia, “RAK Firm to Use Fuel From Waste in Cement Production” Cision PR Newswire, “Green Catalysts with Earth-abundant Metals Accelerate Production of Bio-based Plastic” Irish Farmers Journal, “Biofuels Blended in Petrol and Diesel to Increase to 10% from 2019” The Virginian-Pilot, “Global Bioenergies Welcomes France’s Decision to...