EPA OFFICIAL: 2014 RFS IN SPRING

Lindsay Mitchell

Jan 22, 2015  |  Today's News

The Environmental Protection Agency will release, at a minimum, the 2014 Renewable Fuel Standard mandate sometime this spring, according to an agency official.

The statement was reportedly made this week by Paul Argyopoulos, senior policy adviser in the EPA's Office of Transportation and Air Quality -- the division that oversees the RFS -- during the National Biodiesel Board conference this week in Fort Worth, Texas.

A spokesperson for the EPA confirmed Argyopoulos' comments Wednesday afternoon with DTN, but declined to release any more detail.

"That timing does track with recent statements our senior officials have made," the EPA spokesperson said.

The language expanding the RFS in 2007, found in the Energy Independence and Security Act, increases the demand mandate for renewable fuels each year through 2022. However, the EPA proposed but never finalized the renewable volume obligations (RVO) for 2014.

Facing "blend wall" issues in expanding the market for ethanol within the gasoline pool, in November 2013 the EPA proposed a reduction in the mandate for 2014 from the statute requirement of 18.1 billion gallons to a 15.0 billion to 15.52 billion gallon range. After lobbying and a review process of public comments on their proposal, EPA said last November it would not mandate a RVO for 2014 that year, instead planning to address 2014, 2015 and 2016 RVOs this year. By statute, the RVO must be finalized by Nov. 30 of the prior year.

Read full article here.