EPA Announces Action on 2025 Small Refinery Exemptions and Related Actions

August 31, 2026

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(U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced decisions for 34 small refinery exemption (SRE) petitions under the Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS) program for 2025. In consultation with U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), EPA reviewed and considered information submitted by each petitioning small refinery. EPA then evaluated each SRE petition consistent with the Clean Air Act and case law.

Based on that analysis, EPA is exempting 1.76 billion RFS compliance credits, known as Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs), for 29 small refineries. EPA will propose to reallocate 100 percent of the difference between projected and actual exempted volumes for 2025 SREs into the 2026 and 2027 Renewable Volume Obligations (RVOs) before the end of October 2026.

Due to the agency’s 2025 SRE decisions, EPA will also be announcing a direct final rule to extend the 2025 RVO compliance date by 30 days to October 1, 2026. This will allow the market to appropriately account for the additional RINs.

EPA is making the following 2025 SRE determinations:

EPA Determination	Number of Small Refineries Receiving
Full (100%)	18
Partial (50%)	11
Denial (0%)	3
Ineligible (0%)	2

In 2020, EPA established a methodology in regulation for predicting the expected volumes that would be exempted based on an average of the past three years. Before that rulemaking, SREs were not considered as part of the volumes – in other words, all SREs had the result of reducing volumes. Following EPA’s methodology, the agency estimated that 990 million RINs would be exempted in 2025 in “Set 2” and put into the volumes. However, due to more small refineries requesting exemptions and changes in financial circumstances, EPA is exempting more RINs than estimated in “Set 2.”

Based on agency experiences, DOE is evaluating how it has historically utilized their 2011 disproportionate economic harm methodology and the information needed for future small refinery petitions to account for current market circumstances in this new phase of the RFS program. DOE will continue to seek public feedback from all impacted stakeholders on these analyses. 

Since the beginning of the Trump Administration, EPA has observed inaccurate and misleading reporting on the agency’s RFS actions that have contributed to significant market movements despite no official statement or action from the Administration. Most recently, misleading reports and information led to significant volatility in the RIN market. These incidents raise serious concerns about the potential misuse of material nonpublic information and possible market manipulation. EPA continues to work with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and will expand its coordination to ensure compliance with all applicable federal laws and protect the integrity of the RIN market.

Information on the 2025 SREs can be found here. READ MORE

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RFA: Refinery Exemptions ‘Unjustified,’ But Proposed Reallocation Approach Offers Encouragement (Renewable Fuels Association)
EPA Exempts 1.76B RIN Gallons in 2025 -- EPA Waives 1.76B Gallons From 2025 RFS, Pledges Full Reallocation in 2026, 2027 (DTN Progressive Farmer)
Clean Fuels Disappointed with EPA’s New Small Refinery Exemptions (Clean Fuels Alliance America)
EPA grants small refiners 1.76 billion biofuel exemptions, nearly double initial estimate (Reuters)
August 31, 2026 Decisions on Petitions for RFS Small Refinery Exemptions (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)

Excerpt from Renewable Fuels Association: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today granted dozens of new small refinery exemptions from 2025 Renewable Fuel Standard blending requirements and laid out a proposed plan to restore the lost renewable fuel volume in the near future.

Of the 34 pending exemption petitions, EPA granted full exemptions to 18 and partial (50 percent) exemptions to 11. It also denied three petitions and determined two petitions to be ineligible. This represents a total of 1.76 billion exempted RINs, or renewable fuel blending credits. EPA simultaneously announced it will propose to reallocate 100 percent of the newly exempted renewable fuel volume into the 2026 and 2027 renewable volume obligations before the end of October 2026.

“While we continue to believe most of the SREs issued today are completely unjustified, we are somewhat encouraged that EPA is taking steps to minimize the damage through reallocation,” said RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper. “The proposed plan laid out by EPA today creates a pathway for ensuring no net loss in renewable fuel demand, and it is crucially important that the agency moves quickly to faithfully implement this approach. At a time when oil refiners are reporting record-high profit margins, gasoline supplies are tightening, and consumers are paying record-high prices at the pump, the administration should focus on efforts to increase—not decrease—the domestic production and use of more affordable biofuels like ethanol.”

Cooper noted that ethanol with a RIN credit attached is selling for $2 per gallon wholesale today, compared to $3.08 per gallon for gasoline, underscoring the fact that ethanol is helping to provide economic relief at the pump for American families.

Still, unwarranted SREs continue to plague the RFS with uncertainty and instability, Cooper said, noting that reform of the “broken SRE program” is needed. “The RFS has been in place for more than 20 years, and Congress never intended for SREs to be a permanent entitlement for Fortune 500 oil refining companies,” he said. “The exemptions were always meant to be a temporary measure to give truly small, independent refiners a little more time to come into compliance with the RFS program. Unfortunately, many so-called small refiners have been allowed to exploit this loophole for two decades, putting American consumers, farmers, and biofuel producers on the losing end.”

EPA’s own analyses show that RIN costs for all refiners—big and small—are passed along to buyers of refined fuels at the wholesale level, and those costs are offset when lower-cost renewable fuels are blended with gasoline, Cooper noted.

Media reports on the looming SRE announcement led to an effort by RFA and its allies across the agriculture and biofuels industry to soften the blow. Numerous state and federal lawmakers, members of the Trump administration, and other leaders also stepped in to voice strong support for renewable fuels, Cooper said. “We are grateful to the many elected and appointed officials who spoke out publicly over the past week about the potential damage these exemptions could do to farmers, renewable fuel producers, and American families,” he said. “They understand what’s at risk in their home states and districts, and we appreciate their willingness to stand up for their constituents.”

June polling for RFA by Morning Consult found that more than three-quarters of respondents with an opinion want oil companies to be required to meet their renewable fuel blending requirements. Less than a quarter want oil companies to be allowed to avoid them. READ MORE

Excerpt from Clean Fuels Alliance America: Kurt Kovarik, Clean Fuels’ Vice President of Federal Affairs, stated in reaction: “America’s biodiesel, renewable diesel and SAF producers have been working overtime to meet the historic RFS volumes announced just last March. The industry is producing at record pace today, providing a strong domestic market for America’s farmers, investing billions in rural communities, contributing to America’s energy security, and providing American consumers a price break at the pump – in short, delivering measurable results on the administration’s goals for the RFS. We’re hopeful that today’s action won’t reverse the progress we’ve made and that our industry can maintain faith in the RFS program.

“Clean Fuels fundamentally disagrees that small refiners need reprieve from the tepid 2025 RFS volumes set by the prior administration. We appreciate the White House’s commitment to hold biofuel producers harmless and will work with EPA to quickly finalize the promised supplemental rule. We will continue to press the administration to reallocate future small refinery exemptions to ensure they do not harm farmers and other stakeholders in clean fuel production.

“Clean Fuels and its members are extremely grateful for the quick action of Senators Chuck Grassley, Joni Ernst, Representative Ashley Hinson, and numerous other congressional champions who worked to ensure that EPA’s relief measures for small refineries do not come at the expense of America’s biofuel producers and farmers.” READ MORE

Excerpt from DTN Progressive Farmer: National Corn Growers Association President Jed Bower said corn growers were "disheartened" by the number of SREs granted.

"We are thankful that the Trump administration is taking action to offset this development by pledging to reallocate these RINs," Bower said in a statement. "Reallocation is essential for protecting farmers, biofuel producers and consumers alike."

The American Soybean Association said on Monday that it was thankful for the plan to reallocate the gallons waived.

"We appreciate the administration's commitment to reallocating 100% of these additional exemptions and their intention to enter into supplemental rulemaking soon, but timing is critical," said Dave Walton, ASA vice president and Iowa soybean farmer.

"Any delay in reallocation risks undermining the domestic market demand that soybean farmers urgently need as we enter harvest season. EPA must move quickly to fully reallocate these RINs and ensure soybean farmers are held harmless."

Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor said the group had not changed its position that SREs should be granted only when refiners "prove disproportionate economic hardship."

"It's difficult to see how these refiners have met this threshold when they're simultaneously reporting sky-high and, in some cases, record-setting earnings," she said in a statement.

"We will work with EPA to fully account for lost biofuel gallons and make producers and farmers whole."

...

Devin Mogler, president and CEO of the National Oilseed Processors Association, said the exemptions had created uncertainty in the market.

"President Trump's strong RFS put American agriculture on a path toward greater certainty, investment and growth, and we appreciate the president and Congress stepping in to protect that progress," Mogler said.

"We remain disappointed by the sheer volume of these refinery exemptions and the uncertainty they have injected back into the market. But restoring waived gallons to the established RFS volumes is critical to sustaining domestic growth, creating stronger markets for American farmers and reducing our reliance on China."

PETROLEUM SRE OPPOSITION

The Trump administration continued forward with the proposal even after the American Petroleum Institute warned EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin in a letter on Monday that granting a higher volume of SREs could be harmful to the market. READ MORE

Excerpt from Reuters: U.S. oil refiners have waged a long lobbying battle with agricultural and biofuel industries over the Renewable Fuel Standard, which requires refiners to blend renewable fuels into gasoline and diesel or purchase credits known as renewable identification numbers, or RINs.

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Refineries owned by Marathon Petroleum and Chevron ⁠were among those that received exemptions, according to the EPA. READ MORE