Duckworth Accuses EPA of Deception, Calls for Probe into Ethanol Waivers

May 24, 2019

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by John Siciliano (Washington Examiner) Illinois Democrat Tammy Duckworth asked the Environmental Protection Agency's inspector general Thursday to investigate whether the agency broke the law in granting dozens of waivers to the oil industry to not blend corn ethanol into the gasoline supply.

Duckworth said new documents show that EPA has deceived members of Congress about its reasons for granting 35 small refinery exemptions in the last two years, compared to the seven granted under the Obama administration.

“Recent document disclosures reveal that the EPA misled Members of Congress, industry and the public," the senator said in a letter to EPA acting Inspector General Charles Sheehan. “This deception by EPA political appointees may indicate improper motives and conflicts of interest, and it warrants a thorough review."

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EPA is poised to roll back regulations in a week to allow more ethanol to be sold during the summer months by lifting restrictions on 15% ethanol fuel blends. The pro-ethanol camp says the plan, endorsed personally by Trump, will be a boon to corn farmers. But with the trade war and the refinery exemptions in place, they say, those gains could be lost.

Meanwhile, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, D-Minn., and Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., on Thursday introduced legislation to prevent the agency from abusing the refinery exemption program. The ethanol lobby in Washington applauded the bipartisan bill as a means of ensuring transparency is reintroduced back into the refinery waiver program. READ MORE

DUCKWORTH ASKS FOR INVESTIGATION INTO EPA’S ABUSE OF BIOFUEL WAIVERS (Office of Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL))

Democratic presidential hopeful Klobuchar proposes revamping EPA ethanol rules (Reuters)

Waive goodbye to ethanol (Washington Examiner)

UPDATE 1-DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFUL KLOBUCHAR PROPOSES REVAMPING EPA ETHANOL RULES (Reuters)

Small-Refinery Waiver Deadline Proposed; Senator Asks EPA's Inspector General for RFS Waiver Investigation (DTN Progressive Farmer)

EPA misleads on reason for SRE policy change (Ethanol Producer Magazine)

Excerpt from Reuters: Democratic presidential hopeful Amy Klobuchar on Saturday called for revamping the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) rules governing how small refineries are exempted from the nation’s biofuel laws, a proposal aimed at boosting her standing in the politically critical state of Iowa.

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Senator Elizabeth Warren earlier this month in a letter to the EPA questioned the agency’s decision to grant a small refinery waiver to an oil refinery owned by billionaire Carl Icahn, a former adviser to President Donald Trump. She said waivers undermine the renewable program.

Klobuchar also said she would support year-round sales of E15, gasoline blended with 15 percent ethanol, a rule that the Trump administration has promised to farmers and that the EPA is working to complete by June 1. READ MORE