Trump administration to review biofuel waiver requests, delay reallocation decision

The Trump administration is expected to rule on a growing number of requests from small refineries seeking relief from the nation’s biofuels laws as early as Friday, but will hold off on whether large refineries should recoup some of the exempt gallons, two people familiar with the planning said.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is expected to rule on Friday on some of the 195 pending requests for small refineries to obtain relief from the tax, dating back to 2016, the people said. The decisions will be mixed, including partial denials, but will not be a definitive victory for small refiners, a person familiar with the decisions said.

The administration is expected to issue a supplemental rule as early as next week to solicit public comment on whether to force major refineries to offset future gallons of withdrawals in a process known as reallocation.

Earlier this year, the EPA said it would force major refineries to offset future gallons of withdrawals, but did not say how it would handle the gallons from dozens of outstanding requests.

The supplemental rule will include a variety of options in an attempt to test how the market reacts, the people said.

How the administration handles waiver requests and reallocation issues will have implications for the oil and agriculture industries, and will affect prices for commodities ranging from gasoline and renewable diesel to soybeans and corn, as well as the companies that produce them.

In the past, widespread exemptions without reallocation have depressed the price of credits, as well as soybeans and ethanol.

Tags: USA