Sen. Chuck Grassley continually urges the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to meet its statutory mandate on the levels of renewable biofuels that must be blended into the fuel supply under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). In March, Grassley led a group of 19 senators in urging the agency to set high blending targets for 2017, in keeping with congressional intent and to follow through on agency commitments to get the RFS back on track. The senators noted that the EPA’s last target was lower than it should have been because the agency relied on concerns about distribution infrastructure, which Congress explicitly rejected as a reason to justify lower blending targets. Grassley made the following comment on the proposed blending level for 2017 that the EPA released today.
“The proposed level is a positive step but still short of the level set by Congress. I worry that the EPA continues to rely too much on arguments from Big Oil that distribution infrastructure is lacking as a reason to set a target that’s lower than it should be. Congress explicitly rejected distribution infrastructure as a reason to justify lower blending targets. The EPA needs to pay attention to that fact. Under-estimating biofuels does a disservice to the producers who put in extra effort every day to give Americans more diversity at the pump. These producers also are working to develop the next generation of biofuels. Policy ought to encourage innovation and investment so fuel diversity will continue moving forward. The EPA is taking public comment on the proposed rule. I hope biofuels producers and consumers from Iowa and elsewhere will weigh in.”
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