2021 February 23 –
It has been reported on Bloomberg that the Environmental Protection Agency will announce that it side with renewable fuel producers in a case before the U.S. Supreme Court, agreeing with a 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that concluded small refinery exemptions were of a temporary nature.
The Renewable Crude Derived Energy Association (RCDEA) welcomes the effort but urges the EPA to concurrently act on approving bio intermediate pathways and pathway U as they themselves proposed in their Oct 3 2016 Notice of Public Rule Making. Not allowing these pathways adds excessive capital costs to projects scaled to available feedstock while punishing existing refineries and not allowing them to process renewable crudes including those from more environmentally friendly and economic non-foodstuff sources such as cellulosic biomass and energy crops.
Cellulosic and non foodstuff feedstocks and renewable crude would drastically improve the economic and environmental performance of the projects this program is supposed to promote.