WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) today
joined Sens. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) to introduce the
bipartisan RFS Integrity Act of 2021.
This legislation would provide more certainty for rural America by bringing
transparency and predictability to EPA’s small refinery exemption process. The
bill would require small refineries to petition for Renewable Fuel Standard
(RFS) hardship exemptions by June 1st of each year. This change would ensure
that EPA properly accounts for exempted gallons in the annual Renewable Volume
Obligations (RVO) it sets each November.
“The RFS has been in place for over 15
years, but unfortunately some in Washington, D.C. have taken advantage of
certain loopholes. I’m tired of this funny businesses. It’s time to restore
integrity to the RFS and bring more transparency and accountability for the
industry,” Grassley said. “This
legislation would give some much-needed certainty to the renewable fuels
community. I’m glad to cosponsor this bipartisan legislation that will help our
Iowa farmers and producers.”
This legislation fixes the unnecessarily
complex “rolling deadline” by setting a deadline for refineries to apply for an
SRE by June 1 in the year before the RVO is in effect, giving EPA sufficient
time to ensure exemptions are accounted for in the annual RVO process. It
further requires the EPA to publish the name of the refinery and how many
gallons are exempted on their dashboard at the same time the refiner is
notified that they received an exemption.
Grassley has been a longtime defender of
the RFS. In February, he led 14 of his colleagues in a
letter
to EPA urging the agency to take immediate action to restore integrity to
the RFS. In that letter, the senator’s also pressed the EPA to swiftly issue a
proposed rule for the 2021 RVO’s which will provide growth in all renewable
fuel categories and move forward with the E15 streamlining proposal to remove
certain barriers to expanded sales of E15.