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CEO of SE Minnesota ethanol plant calls EPA biofuels proposal “a stab in the back”

The CEO of an ethanol plant in southeast Minnesota is afraid the EPA’s supplemental biofuels proposal won’t be changed to reflect gallons lost to small refinery exemptions.

Randy Doyal of Al-Corn Clean Fuel in Claremont says barring intervention from President Trump, the EPA will probably move forward with Department of Energy recommendations to supplement waived gallons instead of actual exempted gallons.

“If that was the direction EPA was going to go, that would’ve been the rule they put out. They didn’t. I think that our only hope is to have the President say ‘Stop (and) do what I said.’ Still waiting to hear those words.”

Speaking to Brownfield at the Minnesota AgriGrowth Ag and Food Summit in Minneapolis Thursday, Doyal says he thought there was an understanding EPA would use the number of gallons the agency had been exempting for reallocation.

“Instead they said they were going to use DOE’s recommendations, which they haven’t followed in three years. It’s ridiculous, and instead of 15 billion gallons, it gets us something less than 14.”

The comment period on EPA’s supplemental biofuels proposal ends November 29^th.