WASHINGTON, D.C. – Under mounting pressure from rural lawmakers and industry champions led by Growth Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today confirmed its consideration of 52 new so-called ‘gap-filing’ exemptions from the nation’s biofuel laws. According to the agency’s newly updated dashboard, oil companies have requested retroactive small refinery exemptions (SREs) covering periods as far back as 2011. The “gap-filings” are designed to reconstitute a continuous string of exemptions in an effort to circumvent court limits on new oil industry handouts at the expense of farmers and biofuel producers.
“This absurd maneuver is a blatant attempt to dodge the law at the expense of rural communities,” said Emily Skor, CEO of Growth Energy. “EPA’s dashboard confirms that the refiners hope to rewrite years of history, just to bypass the 10th Circuit Court and push more biofuels out of the marketplace. It’s an insult to American farmers, biofuel workers, and to rural families struggling to rebuild in the wake of COVID-19 after years of regulatory abuse.
“EPA should reject this attempt to game the system. The last thing farm states need is another long legal battle fueling uncertainty in the agricultural supply chain. We agree wholeheartedly with Senator Grassley, who called on regulators to ‘publicly dismiss these ridiculous petitions as soon as possible.’”