EPA Considering Petitions to Change Renewable Fuel Standard Obligation
By Jack Fitzpatrick, Morning Consult.
Environmental Protection Agency Acting Assistant Administrator Janet McCabe told lawmakers Wednesday the agency is considering how it enforces the Renewable Fuel Standard, which requires renewable fuels to be blended into gasoline.
McCabe said in a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing the EPA has received several petitions calling for the agency to switch the burden of compliance off of refiners, adding that the possibility of changing the obligation is “very much on our minds.” McCabe said she didn’t have a timeframe for responding to the petitions but called it an “important issue to look at.”
Refiners have petitioned the EPA to change the point of obligation to blenders, or “the entity that holds title to the gasoline or diesel fuel, immediately prior to the sale from the bulk transfer/terminal system … to a wholesaler, retailer or ultimate consumer.”