EPA proposes 600mn gallon increase in biofuels for 2019

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced its proposal covering the renewable fuel volume requirements for 2019 under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program

The proposal calls for an almost 600 million gallon increase in the advanced biofuel category in 2019, from the current 4.29 billion gallons to 4.88 billion gallons in 2019. The biomass-based diesel standard for 2019 was already set in 2017. However, the EPA proposes an over 15% increase in the biomass-based diesel category in 2020 from 2.1 billion gallons to 2.43 billion gallons.

The U.S. biodiesel and renewable diesel market, for example, has grown from roughly 100 million gallons in 2005 to nearly 2.6 billion gallons in 2017.

The national association representing truckstops and travel plazas (NATSO) praised the EPA and the Trump Administration for proposing the new renewable volume obligations.

Representatives of the biofuels industry have also come forward to criticize the U.S. EPA for consistently ignoring recommendations from the U.S. Department of Energy to reject or limit waivers to oil refiners seeking exemptions from the Renewable Fuel Standard.