Oil industry group sues government over EPA renewable fuel standard
Big Oil鈥檚 American Petroleum Institute (API) is taking on the ethanol mandate with a lawsuit challenging quota鈥檚 that the group says is not only bad policy but unrealistic. 聽
On 9 October, the API filed a federal聽challenging the government鈥檚 estimate over how much ethanol must be blended into the US fuel supply this year.
In August, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established the volume requirements and associated percentage standards that apply in calendar year 2013 for cellulosic biofuel, biomass-based diesel, advanced biofuel, and total renewable fuel. These targets are set to steadily increase to an overall level of 36 billion gallons in 2022. (Related article:聽)
The deadline to comply was extended to聽June 30, 2014, because the EPA was almost eight months late issuing the final volume requirements for 2013.聽
Next year, the situation will intensify as the new mandate for 2014 call for 14.4 billion gallons of ethanol to be blended with gasoline鈥攁 4.3% increase over 2013. 聽
The API wants to see the ethanol mandate聽聽10% for 2014.
Harry Ng,聽vice president, told reporters that the 鈥淓PA鈥檚 unrealistic ethanol mandates for 2013 are simply bad public policy鈥� They issued this year鈥檚 requirements nine months late and has once again mandated significantly more cellulosic ethanol than is available in the marketplace.鈥�
But Renewable Fuels Association President Bob Dinneen calls the lawsuit another frivolous effort by API to abuse the court system in their slavish effort to repeal a public policy that is working for farmers, gasoline marketers and consumers. (Related article:聽)
鈥淲hile the 2013 [Renewable Volume Obligations] were issued later than anyone would have liked, the fact is the statute is crystal clear, and all stakeholders have been producing and blending at levels that will unquestionably meet the 2013 requirements.鈥�
In September, US-based聽.--the largest independent refinery in the world鈥攂egan seriously lobbying Washington to scrap the ethanol mandate urgently because refiners can鈥檛 keep up with the costs of maintaining the stringent biofuels targets.
The plea has resonance because not only is Valero the largest independent refining company in the world, it is also the third-largest ethanol producer in the US. Even with its position as both refiner and ethanol producer, the company can鈥檛 align costs with targets under a mandate which requires refiners to use 13.8 billion gallons of ethanol this year alone.
Original article:聽
