In its April 10 announcement, the agency also said it will re-propose biofuel targets for 2014 using the actual volumes of renewable fuels that were consumed last year. and to issue targets for 2016.
The debate over biofuel mixing goes back to the pre-oil sands days of the Bush administration, when the United States committed itself to reducing its reliance on "foreign oil." As part of that policy, the federal government began mandating the blending of renewable biofuel with gasoline and diesel.
The plan outlined by the Bush administration called for the amount of biofuel folded into the national energy supply to steadily increase through 2022.
But the policy worked more smoothly on paper than it ever has in practice.
Both biofuel producers and oil refiners complained of repeated EPA dealys in setting annual biofuel fuel requirements, leading to widespread industry uncertainty
The agency believes its newly announcement plan will get the program back on track.
In March, the American Petroleum Institute and the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers used the EPA in a big to force the agency's hand. Friday's announcement was the result of an agreement, if not a formal settlement, with API.
In a statement, Bob Dinneen, president and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, said his group applauds the agreement between the EPA and the petroleum institute.
“No one has benefited from the delays in setting annual renewable volume obligations; and while we are sympathetic to the difficulty EPA faces in promulgating annual targets, the statute is clear about the volumes required and the Agency simply has to do a better job moving forward," Dinneen said. "This consent agreement is a good start. We are particularly pleased that the Agency has committed to addressing the 2016 RVO in the same timeframe even though that is outside the scope of the consent agreement. More important than EPA meeting its statutory deadlines, however, is that the Agency recognize the market transforming purpose of the RFS and allow the RIN mechanism to drive investment in infrastructure and compel consumer choice at the pump.”
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