EPA Allows New Exemptions from Biofuel Mandate

August 04, 2026

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by Marc Heller (E&E News) EPA granted one full exemption and two partial exemptions in its latest decision on petitions from small refineries. -- EPA announced mixed decisions Monday on six petitions by refineries seeking to temporarily sidestep biofuel-blending mandates, a topic that remains hotly debated in the industry and Congress.

The environmental agency said it granted one full exemption and two partial exemptions for the 2023 and 2024 compliance years, while declaring three petitioners ineligible because they didn’t meet the definition of a small refinery.

The exemptions allow refineries a break from the biofuel blending requirement in the renewable fuel standard based on economic hardship.

EPA didn’t identify refineries or elaborate on their specific details, citing confidential business information.

The Renewable Fuels Association, an ethanol industry group, criticized the move, saying EPA shouldn’t be granting economic hardship waivers while refiners are benefiting from high oil prices spurred by the war with Iran.

“We fail to see any justification at all for any small refinery exemptions — especially at a time of record refining margins and sky-high profits,” said RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper in a news release. READ MORE

Related articles

EPA gives Delek refinery biofuel relief, finds HF Sinclair petitions ineligible (Reuters)
August 3, 2026 Decisions on Petitions for RFS Small Refinery Exemptions (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)
Growth Energy Statement on EPA 2023-2024 SRE Decisions (Growth Energy)
EPA Defense Of RFS Waiver Policy Likely To Spur Further Legal Clashes (Inside EPA)
EPA issues decisions on 6 SRE petitions, 36 SRE petitions remain pending (Biomass Magazine)
To lower gas prices, suspend the ethanol mandate (Washington Times)
Letter to the editor: Ethanol is lowering gas prices, so why remove it? (Washington Times)

Excerpt from Reuters: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday granted a Delek US Holdings (DK.N), opens new tab refinery full exemption from federal biofuel blending requirements for 2024 while declaring hardship waiver ‌petitions for two refineries owned by HF Sinclair (DINO.N), opens new tab ineligible, according to agency documents.

The decision followed an emergency motion filed in late July by HF Sinclair and Delek-owned Alon Refining Krotz Springs in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, ⁠meant to get the EPA to rule on their economic hardship exemption petitions for 2023 and 2024 compliance years by August 11.

On Monday, the EPA granted Alon a full exemption from its 2024 obligations. It, however, found HF Sinclair's Artesia, New Mexico, refinery ineligible for its 2023 and 2024 petitions, saying the facility exceeded the 75,000 barrel-per-day crude throughput limit required to qualify as a small refinery ‌under Renewable ⁠Fuel Standard (RFS) regulations.

HF Sinclair and Delek did not respond to requests for comment. The EPA's decision can be appealed.

Under the RFS, refiners must blend biofuels into the nation's transportation fuel supply or buy compliance credits known ⁠as RINs from those who do. Small refineries can seek exemptions if compliance, such as high RIN prices, causes disproportionate economic hardship.

The companies had argued a delayed ⁠ruling would reduce the value of any relief because refineries typically acquire RINs ahead of the September 1 compliance deadline.

In June, ⁠the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers trade group challenged EPA's RFS in court, saying it imposes excessive costs on the industry. READ MORE

Excerpt from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: On August 3, 2026, EPA announced its decisions on six individual small refinery exemption petitions from four refineries seeking an exemption from their Renewable Fuel Standard obligations for the 2023 and 2024 compliance years. In consultation with the Department of Energy, EPA reviewed all the information submitted by each individual refinery in support of its petition. After careful consideration of all statutory factors and the information submitted by the refineries, EPA is granting full (100 percent) exemptions to one petition, granting partial (50 percent) exemptions to two petitions, denying zero petitions, and determining three petitions to be ineligible.

This document articulates EPA’s interpretation of section 211(o)(9) of the Clean Air Act and EPA’s authority with respect to SRE petitions. As required by CAA section 211(o)(9), EPA’s final actions on the pending SRE petitions are based on the legal and factual analysis presented herein, after consulting with DOE, and considering the DOE Small Refinery Study and “other economic factors.”

This document also explains how EPA will implement SRE decisions when an exemption is granted.

The decisions in this document are final Agency actions. READ MORE

Excerpt from Growth Energy: Growth Energy, the nation’s largest biofuel trade association, issued the following statement after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its decision on six small refinery exemption (SRE) petitions under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Specifically, EPA granted one full exemption (100%) and two partial exemptions (50%) for the 2024 compliance year, and then deemed one petition for 2024 and two for 2023 ineligible.

“Small refineries should only be granted exemptions when they can demonstrate that the RFS has caused them true disproportionate economic harm,” said Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor. “We continue to closely evaluate these decisions to ensure they do not undermine investments made in biofuels, agriculture, and our rural economy because of the RFS. Today’s decision highlights the critical importance of SRE reallocation in any future RVOs.” READ MORE

Excerpt from Inside EPA: EPA’s new justification of its recent decisions on pending renewable fuel standard (RFS) compliance waivers outlines efforts to comply with court rulings it still opposes and adopts positions likely to further antagonize small refiners seeking waivers and biofuels groups opposing them in current and possible future litigation. EPA on Aug. 3 announced decisions for six compliance waiver requests from four refineries, granting one in full, partially granting two others and denying three other applications as “ineligible.”

...

But the agency’s legal and policy analysis for the waivers outlines a series of policy positions and legal justifications that are likely to stoke further disputes between small refiners and others. For example, EPA says it did not rely on its “cost passthrough” theory in making waiver decisions, which posits that refiners pass on their RFS compliance costs to customers and therefore cannot claim the “disproportionate economic hardship” (DEH) required to win waivers. READ MORE

Excerpt from Biomass Magazine: The U.S. EPA on Aug. 3 issued decisions on six small refinery exemption (SRE) petitions for Renewable Fuel Standard compliance years 2023 and 2024. The agency granted one full exemption, two partial 50% exemptions, and declared three petitions as ineligible.

Both the fully approved SRE petition and the two petitions that received partial exemptions were for RFS compliance year 2024. Together, the three petitions account for a total of 160 million renewable identification numbers (RINs).

A total of 36 SRE petitions remain pending with the agency, including 34 seeking waivers of RFS compliance year 2025 blending obligations, one seeking a waiver of compliance year 2026 blending obligations and one seeking a waiver of compliance year 2027 blending obligations.

“We fail to see any justification at all for any small refinery exemptions—especially at a time of record refining margins and sky-high profits,” said Geoff Cooper, president and CEO of the Renewable Fuel Association. “And we continue to believe the DOE matrix that EPA relies upon is fundamentally flawed and out of touch with current market conditions. Refiners, both large and small, pass their RIN costs along to buyers of refined fuels at the terminal rack and there is no evidence of any refinery experiencing disproportionate economic hardship due to the RFS. That said, we commend EPA for throwing out several petitions that were clearly ineligible.”

“Small refineries should only be granted exemptions when they can demonstrate that the RFS has caused them true disproportionate economic harm,” Emily Skor, CEO of Growth Energy. “We continue to closely evaluate these decisions to ensure they do not undermine investments made in biofuels, agriculture, and our rural economy because of the RFS. Today's decision highlights the critical importance of SRE reallocation in any future RVOs." READ MORE

Excerpt from Washington Times: With the average price of gasoline above $4 a gallon in the U.S., families are looking for relief wherever they can find it. One of the few places they have is on the pump handle marked “E15” or “Unleaded 88” — gasoline blended with 15% American-made ethanol.

E15 is saving drivers anywhere from 10 cents to 40 cents a gallon. That’s worth keeping in mind while reading the recent Washington Times editorial, “To lower gas prices, suspend the ethanol mandate” (Web. Aug. 5), which held that the fastest way to lower gas prices is to suspend the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).

Doing this would strip the cheapest ingredient out of America’s fuel supply at the precise moment drivers need it most. The editorial repeats a debunked claim: that ethanol adds about 45 cents to the price of every gallon.

But a recent analysis shows that blending ethanol lowers wholesale gasoline costs by roughly 39 cents a gallon, saving American drivers more than $50 billion a year. A team of economists at UC Berkeley put the discount even higher, at 77 cents a gallon.

Ethanol is the world’s cheapest octane, which is why many refiners already blend more than required.

Consider the refiners who are attacking the RFS the most vociferously. They are having an extraordinary year: second-quarter profits at some companies tripled or quadrupled, and several swung from outright losses to record earnings. One refiner CEO remarked that the effect of global oil disruption on his industry has been “both dramatic and constructive.”

The drivers paying more than $4 a gallon are not finding it constructive. No one begrudges a profitable quarter, but these results are hard to square with the argument that renewable fuel requirements are an unbearable burden.

Voters see this clearly. In a June Morning Consult survey, three in four registered voters said they want E15 more widely available, and only 11% were opposed.

The House has already passed year-round E15 and President Trump has pledged to sign it “without delay.”

Suspending the RFS would remove one of the few tools lowering fuel costs, and would deepen our dependence on the very barrels driving prices up.

If Congress wants to deliver relief this month, it should pass year-round E15.

GEOFF COOPER

President and CEO, Renewable Fuels Association READ MORE