Fuel Industry Groups Unite to Oppose RFS Change

NATIONAL REPORT — Multiple industry groups came together to support the current point of obligation under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program and urge the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) not to change it.

Under the current structure of the RFS, merchant oil refiners are obligated to blend more renewable fuel. A petition filed by a group of these refiners seeks to shift the obligation to entities that own gasoline before it is blended for retail sale.

NACS, the Association for Convenience & Fuel Retailing, and other industry groups came together to co-sign a letter to the EPA emphasizing their stance.

"It is unprecedented for all of these undersigned groups to unite in a single letter to express a uniformly held position," the groups wrote in the letter. "Each of the undersigned associations strongly supports the [EPA's] proposed denial of petitions for a rulemaking to change the point of obligation under the RFS. There is no sound public policy rationale for moving the point of obligation and further, such a change would add complexity and uncertainty to the current RFS program."

The groups urged the EPA to finalize its conclusion and deny the petitions to move the point of obligation.

Along with NACS, signatories to the letter opposing a change in the point of obligation are:

• Advanced Biofuels Association
• American Petroleum Institute
• Growth Energy
• NATSO Inc.
• Petroleum Marketers Association of America
• Renewable Fuels Association
• Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America

"The Renewable Fuel Standard is working as intended. The point of obligation, as outlined under the RFS, is doing exactly what it is designed to do, incentivizing marketers to blend additional biofuels and encouraging the availability of higher-level ethanol blends to retailers who wish to sell them," stated Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor, following the release of the letter. "The bottom line is that the current point of obligation encourages consumer choice and cost savings at the pump, and any change would undermine the continued success of the RFS and reward those parties who have refused to comply with the intent of the law."

The EPA is currently accepting public comments on its proposal to deny the petition, as CSNews Online previously reported.