A federal appeals court in Denver, Colorado, struck down small-refinery exemption extensions to three companies, holding the EPA did not have the authority to issue them. From the ABC’s perspective, the court’s opinion has some great reasoning on why granting these exemptions contravenes EPA’s authority the Clean Air Act and is counter to EPA-stated policy that the costs of RFS compliance can be recaptured by passing them through to the point of sale. From the case: “EPA’s own data show that a maximum of only seven small refineries could have received continuous extensions of their previously existing exemptions. Yet, recently EPA has granted as many as 35 exemptions in a single year.” Partially, as a result of this and the reduced threat of waivers, RIN values have been rising. Attend ABC’s webinar on Thursday, Feb 6 for a discussion of this and more. More >>
