By Jarrett Renshaw
(Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday issued a proposal for reallocating biofuel blending obligations waived under the Small Refinery Exemption program, offering two primary options of 50% and 100%.
Additionally, the agency said it will ask for comment on other potential volumes, such as 25%, 75% or none at all.
The proposal's failure to narrow down potential options is destined to extend the latest clash between Big Oil and Big Farm over how to deal with
waived biofuel blending obligations, as both industries vie for influence over U.S. energy and agricultural policy.
The U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard requires refiners to blend billions of gallons of biofuels into the country's fuel pool each year or buy credits called RINs from those who do.
But it also allows smaller refiners to apply for waivers under the Small Refinery Exemption (SRE) program if they can show the requirements would cause them financial hardship.
The EPA in August cleared a backlog of more than 170 SRE requests dating back to 2016 — a sweeping move that required it to come up with the plan to account for waived obligations.
The EPA was only required to come up with a plan to reallocate exempted gallons dating back to 2023, however, because RINs generated for previous years have already expired.
(Reporting By Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
