What is in this article?:
- Renewable Fuels Association takes on RFS waiver proposal
- Opposing view
- Send chilling signal
• The Environmental Protection Agency is authorized to waive the national RFS if the agency determines that the mandated biofuel volumes would cause “severe harm” to the economy or the environment.
• As the corn crop shrinks and prices rise, a number of trade organizations, governors of several states, as well as members of the House of Representatives have urged the Environmental Protection Agency to waive the mandate for ethanol.
More About:
A cushion of reserve ethanol stocks and “banked credits” amassed by the ethanol industry will allow the industry to cut back on ethanol production to the equivalent of 1.3 billion bushels of corn and still meet the Renewable Fuel Standard in 2012-13, said Renewable Fuels Association’s Geoff Cooper.
This makes a waiver of the RFS unnecessary this year, said Cooper, speaking at a recent RFA webinar.
The Environmental Protection Agency is authorized to waive the national RFS if the agency determines that the mandated biofuel volumes would cause “severe harm” to the economy or the environment. In 2008, EPA turned down a request from Texas for a partial waiver of the standard, noting there was no compelling evidence the RFS was having such an effect.
Here’s more on that decision.
http://www.epa.gov/otaq/renewablefuels/420f08029.htm.
Over the last two months of this year, dry, hot weather in the Midwest has shriveled potential U.S. corn production by an estimated 25 percent, according to USDA’s latest crop assessment. As the crop shrinks and prices rise, a number of trade organizations, governors of several states, as well as members of the House of Representatives have urged the Environmental Protection Agency to waive the mandate for ethanol.
