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RFA head: Elation over RFS announcement short-lived

The president and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, Bob Dinneen, says his elation over the EPA’s recent announcement on the Renewable Fuels Standard was short-lived.

“I feel a little bit like the receiver that just caught a Hail Mary pass at the end of regulation,” Dinneen says. “I’m elated in the end zone, but by the time I get back to the sideline and realize we’re going into overtime, I realize we still have a lot of work to do.”

The EPA announced it will not be finalizing the 2014 volume obligations under the RFS until next year.   The agency had earlier proposed a cut to the ethanol blend requirements in the standard.

“Yes, it’s terrific that EPA did not finalize a bad rule,” Dinneen says, “and they recognized that perhaps they were on some really shaky legal ground and they needed to make some changes.”

But Dinneen says many questions remain.

“We still need to establish what the numbers are. Most importantly, we need to have a methodology for any reduction that they choose for ’14, ’15 or ’16, that does not completely gut the program”

Most analysts agree that cellulosic ethanol production has the most at stake. Without the stability of the RFS, cellulosic production faces a somewhat uncertain future.

Photo courtesy Green Plains