White House is said to weigh partial biofuel reallocation plan

[Airplane and biofuel tank trailer]
Scharfsinn86

The Trump administration is reviewing a proposal that would require major U.S. refiners to cover only part of the renewable fuel blending volumes waived for small plants, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the discussions.

The plan, drafted by the Environmental Protection Agency and now under White House consideration, would reassign roughly half -- or less -- of the 1.1 billion gallons of biofuels recently exempted for smaller refineries.

Such a move would reduce the overall biofuel demand loss to about 550 million gallons, a shift that could boost the availability of renewable fuel credits, known as RINs and potentially drive down their market price. The EPA is only obligated to reallocate exempted gallons from 2023 onward, since credits from earlier years have expired, though the percentages could vary by year.

The approach is intended as a compromise between the oil and farm sectors, two powerful lobbies long at odds over the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Farm-state lawmakers and biofuel producers have pressed for full replacement of waived gallons, while refiners have resisted new burdens.

“The EPA is in the process of evaluating a range of options that strike an appropriate balance between obligations, reallocation, and other factors that will deliver for farmers, consumers and American energy dominance,” a White House official told Reuters.

The EPA cleared a backlog of more than 170 small refinery exemption requests in August, covering volumes from 2016 onward. The current proposal would apply to 2023 and subsequent years and must be finalized by October 30, when blending requirements for 2026-2027 are due, Reuters reported.

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