![]() No. 132 June 25, 2020 ![]() TOP STORY EPA posts 52 new “gap year” SRE petitions to dashboard ![]() On Thursday, June 18th, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) updated their small refinery exemption (SRE) dashboard to include 52 new “gap year” petitions for SREs dating from 2011 to 2019. The goal for oil refineries is to circumvent the 10th Circuit Court decision by providing themselves with SRE continuity years after the fact. This now brings the total pending SREs EPA must consider to 80: Following this update from EPA, Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor issued a statement to press, saying that “This absurd maneuver is a blatant attempt to dodge the law at the expense of rural communities,. 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.’”
We are engaging with our congressional champions and regulators to push EPA to reject these new "gap year" requests and do the right thing: apply the 10th circuit ruling nationwide. Stayed tuned in the weeks to come as to how you can make your voice heard on this important issue. For more details, contact Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Chris Bliley.
WORKING FOR YOU IN GLOBAL MARKETS USTR Lighthizer testifies before Senate on trade
Increasing U.S. ethanol in Japan IN GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS House highway infrastructure packages advances
Biofuels included in climate discussion at Senate Ag Hearing IN COMMUNICATIONS Skor joins Farm Journal Live to discuss SREs IN OUR ASSOCIATION STS joins Growth Energy UPCOMING EVENTS
Fuel Ethanol Workshop 2020 August 24-26, 2020 Omaha, NE
Growth Energy Biofuels Summit September 14-17, 2020
IN GLOBAL MARKETS USTR Lighthizer testifies before Senate on trade
![]() Last Wednesday, the Senate’s Committee on Finance held its “The President’s 2020 Trade Policy Agenda” hearing where U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer spent a full day testifying on President Trump’s work in his trade policy.
During the hearing, in response to a question from Senator Roberts (R-Kan.) on energy and the Phase One agreement with China, Lighthizer raised ethanol exports, saying that with Chinese purchases, “energy has been a problem. We've been stressing it with them. Energy for us is natural gas and the normal products, but for us - at least - it is also ethanol where we need exclusions, and they have granted exclusions on ethanol. So I’m hoping to see ethanol sales go.” Watch Sen. Roberts and Rep. Lighthizer's exchange at the 1:20:55 mark by clicking here or by clicking the button below.
Increasing U.S. ethanol in Japan
Over the last several years, Growth Energy has worked closely with the U.S. Grains Council, RFA, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA's FAS) to show the benefits of U.S. ethanol to Japanese officials and members of the Japanese fuel industry.
The fruits of these discussions came last summer when the first shipment of ethyl tert-butyl ether (ETBE) made with U.S. corn-based ethanol arrived in Japan, following a change in its policy that now allows up to 95.5 million gallons of U.S. ethanol to be made in ETBE destined for Japan.
Continued dialogue on the subject has led to another potential positive development in that country. On June 16th, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) announced a proposal to increase the greenhouse gas emission value for gasoline to 88.74 g-CO2eq/MJ from its current 84.11g-CO2eq/MJ. While this increase is still below both the U.S. RFS2 and EU RED II equivalent values of 93.1g-CO2eq/MJ and 93.3 g-CO2eq/MJ, final passage of the proposal could lead to the use of more U.S. ethanol in ETBE for the country. If finalized the maximum amount of U.S. ethanol allowed would increase from 95.5 million to 144 million gallons, an increase of 47.5 million gallons of U.S. ethanol for ETBE to Japan.
Check out the USDA Japan GAIN report description of the proposal, and the original rule change from April 2018. For more details, contact Senior Vice President of Global Markets Craig Willis.
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IN GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS House highway infrastructure package advances ![]() Last Thursday, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee passed the INVEST in America Act, which includes a section for biofuels and readies it for floor consideration. According to the bill, biofuel projects would be eligible to receive grants under the Community Climate Innovation Grant program. These are given by DOT to local governments for implementing surface transportation projects that make significant GHG reductions. We thank Rep. Abby Finkenauer (D-Iowa) for all her efforts to get this included.
The INVEST Act was part of the broader infrastructure package, H.R. 2 the Moving Forward Act, which also included several biofuels-related tax extenders. Of those were a five-year extension of the second generation biofuel tax credit, five-year extension of the second generation biofuel plant property, and direct payment for using Section 45Q tax credits. This action follows a letter from Growth Energy and industry allies requesting the tax credits be included. You can read that letter here, or by clicking the button below. The Moving Forward Act will go to the House floor for a vote in the coming weeks and we will be sure to keep you updated on its progress.
Biofuels included in climate discussion at Senate Ag Hearing
Pictured above: U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and National Farmers Union President Rob Larew have an exchange over the state of the biofuels industry at the Senate Ag Committee hearing. The Senate Agriculture Committee had a hearing on Wednesday morning to review S.3894, the Growing Climate Solutions Act of 2020, where witnesses discussed sustainable farming practices, and the important role that biofuels plays in part of that climate program. Witnesses included Zippy Duvall of American Farm Bureau Federation, Rob Larew of the National Farmers Union, Brent Bible of the Environmental Defense Fund, and Jason Weller of Land O’Lakes, Inc.
In his opening remarks, Larew made clear that NFU "support(s) growth in the use of renewable fuels, including ethanol, as part of a climate program. When compared to petroleum gasoline, the use of ethanol blends reduces emissions of carbon monoxide, particulate matter, air toxic chemicals, and greenhouse gases." Additionally, NFU's Larew was asked by Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) about how biofuels has been impacted recently by refinery exemptions, and he discussed the impact these SREs have on the industry and the farmers it supports. You can watch their exchange here or by clicking on the image above.
Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor also submitted comments to the record of the hearing, pointing to the vast trove of public, private, and academic research illustrating how continuous innovation has elevated ethanol as the single most affordable and abundant low-carbon alterative to toxic additives in the fuel mix:
“With many states and localities increasingly exploring public policy options to lower carbon emissions, the use of biofuels can immediately contribute to lowering greenhouse gas emissions, reduce harmful air toxics, and provide affordable solutions to consumers and lawmakers alike,” wrote Skor. “These benefits are significantly attributed to innovations in agricultural practices like reduced tillage, use of cover crops, and continued ethanol plant innovation.” For more details, contact Vice President of Government Affairs John Fuher.
IN COMMUNICATIONS Skor joins Farm Journal Live to discuss SREs
On Friday, June 19th, Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor joined Clinton Griffiths of Farm Journal Live TV for an interview about the 52 new "gap year" small refinery exemptions that EPA must now consider. In her interview, Skor told Griffiths that "what we're seeing right now with the dashboard updates, this exercise is blatant attempt to dodge the law at the expense of rural communities. So the dashboard confirms to us that you've got oil refineries, honestly, trying to rewrite years of history to do an end-run around the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals and push more biofuels out of the marketplace."
Watch the interview here or by clicking the button below. For more details, contact Vice President of Communications Elizabeth Funderburk.
IN OUR ASSOCIATION STS joins Growth Energy
Please join us in welcoming Separator Technology Solutions (STS) to Growth Energy as an associate member. STS is a privately held disk-centrifuge company established in 2005, in Melbourne, Australia. Today, they’re still 100% owned by the original Australian founders, have subsidiaries in each continent, and successfully offer to the market their STS brand disk-type centrifuges tailored for specific client requirements and duties.
To best support their clients needs for after-sales service, parts, technical and programming support, STS also offers also these same support services for competitor brand disk-centrifuges, backed by a large and local inventory of spare parts.
STS CEO and President Ashley Whittington said, "We are proud to be joining Growth Energy. Growth Energy has proven to be the leader in communicating the case for sustainable biofuels and we look forward to supporting them, our producing customers and the entire ethanol industry moving forward through and beyond these unprecedented times."
We look forward to working with Whittington and the whole team at STS!
For more details, contact Vice President of Membership Kelly Manning.
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