English
Afrikaans
Albanian
Amharic
Arabic
Armenian
Azerbaijani
Basque
Belarusian
Bengali
Bosnian
Bulgarian
Catalan
Cebuano
Chichewa
Chinese (Simplified)
Chinese (Traditional)
Corsican
Croatian
Czech
Danish
Dutch
Esperanto
Estonian
Filipino
Finnish
French
Frisian
Galician
Georgian
German
Greek
Gujarati
Haitian Creole
Hausa
Hawaiian
Hebrew
Hindi
Hmong
Hungarian
Icelandic
Igbo
Indonesian
Irish
Italian
Japanese
Javanese
Kannada
Kazakh
Khmer
Korean
Kurdish (Kurmanji)
Kyrgyz
Lao
Latin
Latvian
Lithuanian
Luxembourgish
Macedonian
Malagasy
Malay
Malayalam
Maltese
Maori
Marathi
Mongolian
Myanmar (Burmese)
Nepali
Norwegian
Pashto
Persian
Polish
Portuguese
Punjabi
Romanian
Russian
Samoan
Scottish Gaelic
Serbian
Sesotho
Shona
Sindhi
Sinhala
Slovak
Slovenian
Somali
Spanish
Sudanese
Swahili
Swedish
Tajik
Tamil
Telugu
Thai
Turkish
Ukrainian
Urdu
Uzbek
Vietnamese
Welsh
Xhosa
Yiddish
Yoruba
Zulu
by Matthew Choi (Politico’s Morning Energy) A bipartisan group of Midwestern lawmakers is taking aim at the potential for EPA to retroactively lower biofuel blending mandates under the Renewable Fuel Standard. Reps. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa), Rodney Davis (R-Ill.), Angie Craig (D-Minn.) and Ron Kind (D-Wis.) introduced the Defend the Blend Act on Tuesday that would prevent the agency from retroactively reducing previously finalized renewable volume obligations.
EPA sent its proposed annual blending targets to the White House for interagency review in late August. A leaked document emerged in September that signaled the agency planned to retroactively reduce the blending mandates for 2020 — setting off alarm bells for farmers and ethanol advocates. The proposed legislation “will hold the Administration accountable for maintaining the integrity of the Renewable Fuel Standard and give biofuel and ethanol producers the certainty they deserve,” Hinson said in a statement. READ MORE
Hinson Introduces Defend the Blend Act to Provide Certainty to Iowa’s Biofuel Producers (Office of Representative Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa 1st))
MIDWEST CONGRESS MEMBERS INTRODUCE LEGISLATION TO STOP RETROACTIVE ETHANOL BLENDING CUTS (Brownfield Ag News)
RFA Thanks House Members For Bill Restricting Retroactive RFS Volume Cuts (Renewable Fuels Association)
Bipartisan Defend the Blend Bill Introduced (Energy.AgWired.com)
Hinson bill prevents EPA from retroactively reducing RFS RVOs (Ethanol Producer Magazine)
Excerpt from Office of Representative Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa 1st): “The EPA itself has consistently said it does not possess the authority to reopen and modify finalized RFS rules. We strongly agree. The marketplace needs certainty. If the EPA is going to consider illegal actions like this, we really appreciate Congresswoman Hinson’s bill to make it crystal clear that a final RFS rule is just that – final,” said the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association.
“NBB and its members thank Congresswoman Hinson, Congresswoman Craig, Congressman Davis, and Congressman Kind for leading this effort to ensure reliability, certainty and timeliness in RFS volumes. If the EPA lowers previously set rules, it will destroy demand for biodiesel and renewable diesel, hobble small biofuel producers, and undercut the nation’s goals to create jobs and a cleaner environment,” said Kurt Kovarik, National Biodiesel Board’s Vice President of Federal Affairs.
“Corn growers appreciate Congresswoman Hinson, Congresswoman Craig, Congressman Davis, and Congressman Kind and cosponsors of this legislation standing up for the integrity of the Renewable Fuel Standard. The purpose of the RFS is to move biofuel blending forward, not revisit the past and reward the use of more oil instead of cleaner renewables like ethanol. When it comes to lowering fuel prices and cutting emissions, farmers are a big part of the solution. We count on a strong RFS to help support use of ethanol,” said Chris Edgington, President of the National Corn Growers Association.
“We thank Reps. Hinson, Craig, Davis, Kind, and the co-sponsors of this bill for their efforts to ensure both oil refiners and EPA are being held accountable. The Renewable Fuel Standard was intended to provide long-term market certainty and predictability for our nation’s ethanol producers, farmers, fuel retailers, and other market participants. Retroactively slashing renewable volume obligations long after they have been set would throw the RFS program into turmoil and reward a small group of defiant oil refiners for their bad behavior. RFA strongly supports this bill because it would prevent refiners from rigging the game and it would keep EPA from moving the goalposts,” said Geoff Cooper, President and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association.
“We thank Representatives Ashley Hinson, Angie Craig, Rodney Davis, and Ron Kind for introducing the Defend the Blend Act, legislation that would offer more certainty in the marketplace, especially as we await the 2021 and 2022 RVOs from EPA,” said Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor. “The Renewable Fuel Standard was put into place to blend more low-carbon biofuels into our nation’s transportation fuel supply and includes a built-in mechanism that adjusts for any changes in fuel demand. Retroactively changing RVO levels is completely unwarranted. It is unnecessary, adds uncertainty to the marketplace, and far exceeds EPA’s legal authority.”
This legislation has been endorsed by: American Farm Bureau, Growth Energy, POET, ADM, Renewable Fuel Association, National Corn Growers Association, National Biodiesel Board, Green Plains, National Farmers Union, Iowa Farm Bureau, Iowa Renewable Fuel Association, and Iowa Soybean Association. READ MORE
