Progressive Farmer’s Chris Clayton reported that “in a move aimed at protecting demand for ethanol and biodiesel, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin used a trip to Iowa on Tuesday to announce a proposal to reallocate 770 million renewable fuel blending credits granted to small refiners by adding them to volume obligations for refiners either this year or next year.”
“The proposal, which dives into the weeds of the Renewable Fuels Standard, would essentially protect the equivalent of 770 million gallons of ethanol from being waived from refiners’ blending requirements,” Clayton reported. “Zeldin announced proposed revisions to the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) to ensure 100% of the blending volumes granted by EPA through 29 small refinery exemptions in August won’t reduce the overall renewable fuel blending requirements for the country’s petroleum refiners.”
Iowa Capital Dispatch’s Cami Koons reported that “fuel producers satisfy EPA’s annual renewable fuel standards by either blending renewable fuels, like ethanol or biodiesel, into their products or by purchasing credits to offset the gas they produce.”
“Zeldin, as part of his tour through Iowa, proposed two possible avenues to reallocate the renewable identification numbers, or RINs, while in Peosta Tuesday,” Koons reported. “The first option would spread the more than 770 million RINs worth of exempted renewable fuel equally across 2026 and 2027 compliance years, while the second option would add the exempted RINs to the 2027 compliance year.”
Reuters’ Siddharth Cavale reported that “the EPA in August decided to grant 1.76 billion RINs worth of small refinery exemptions for the 2025 compliance year, including full exemptions for 18 refineries and partial waivers for 11 others. At the time, the agency said it would seek to reallocate the exempted volumes to other refiners in future years to preserve overall biofuel blending requirements.”
“The exemptions, the largest ever issued under the Renewable Fuel Standard, drew sharp criticism from biofuel producers and farm groups, which argued they would reduce demand for ethanol and biodiesel and undermine markets for agricultural feedstocks,” Cavale reported. “… ‘While we believe most of the exemptions were unjustified, EPA’s reallocation plan, if finalized as proposed, will help offset the demand loss for ethanol producers and farmers,’ said Geoff Cooper, CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, which represents ethanol producers.”
Biofuels Groups Applaud Reallocation Proposal
Agri-Pulse’s Steve Davies reported that “biofuels groups were pleased with the announcement.”
“‘Fully reallocating the lost gallons will ensure the robust 2026-2027 RFS blending levels remain intact, thereby supporting Iowa’s biofuels plants and providing the market certainty our industry needs to keep growing,’ Iowa Renewable Fuels Association President Monte Shaw said in a news release. ‘We appreciate EPA’s action and look forward to submitting comments during the process. We hope the rule can be finalized expeditiously,'” Davies reported. “American Coalition for Ethanol CEO Brian Jennings also applauded the news.”
Successful Farming’s Cassidy Walter and Mariah Squire reported that Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor said in a statement that “‘with this proposal, EPA would deliver on the full potential of historic RVOs and fulfill its promise to make American farmers and biofuel producers whole. Reallocating lost gallons would strengthen the rural economy and provide relief to farmers looking for reliable new markets that won’t be destroyed by costly exemptions. We applaud our champions in Congress for fighting tirelessly on behalf of homegrown biofuels, USDA Secretary [Brooke] Rollins for advocating for the nation’s rural communities, and EPA for continuing to deliver markets for America’s farmers and supporting growth and investment in liquid fuels across the country.'”
