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Current three-year RFS proposal sends the wrong signal

The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing establishing three years of biofuel blending requirements under the Renewable Fuel Standard.

Kurt Kovarik, vice president of federal affairs with Clean Fuels Alliance America, says the proposal sends the wrong signal for biomass-based diesel and doesn’t account for growth in the industry.

“We’ve been under this scenario where they protect our volumes on a year-to-year basis,” he says. “We looked at this as an opportunity to set three years’ worth of volumes that would be great to send a signal to the market what EPA expects. That would have been the case had they decided to set volumes at aggressive growth.”

Instead, he says, “The agency chose not to do that. The EPA’s meager increases of 60 million gallons – over the three years it’s a total of about 180 million gallons. Our industry would rather a one-year proposal rather than three years if it’s a terrible proposal which this one is.”

The EPA is accepting public comment on the proposal until Feb. 10.

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