WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa)
along with Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) along with 13 Senate colleagues sent a
letter
to EPA Acting Administrator Jane Nishida urging the agency to take immediate
action to restore integrity to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).
Grassley and his colleagues urged the EPA
to review three small refinery exemption (SRE) waivers issued last-minute by
the former EPA Administrator, and evaluate if those waivers comply with the
Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling.
“On January 8, 2021, the Supreme Court
indicated its intention to review the Tenth Circuit case (Renewable Fuels
Association v. EPA), with oral arguments expected this spring and a decision by
summer. As this litigation is ongoing, we respectfully ask that you review the
three waivers issued by Mr. Wheeler on January 19. If these waivers do not meet
the three-part test laid out in the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals then we urge
you to immediately reverse them and deny the refiners’ waiver requests,” the senators wrote.
In the letter, Grassley also pressed the
EPA to swiftly issue a proposed rule for the 2021 Renewable Volume Obligation
(RVO) 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.
Last month, Grassley and several of his
colleagues sent a
letter
to the EPA urging them to hold off on making any decisions on SREs until after
the Supreme Court rules in the
Renewable Fuels Association et. al. v.
EPA case.
Full text of the letter can be found
HERE.
