By Stephanie Kelly and Jarrett Renshaw
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and a biofuels trade group have agreed to extend by two weeks a deadline the agency has to issue a proposal on biofuel blending obligations for 2023, the trade group said on Friday.
Growth Energy agreed to the EPA’s request for a two-week extension on the condition that Nov. 30 be the final deadline to issue the proposal, it said. The deadline extension does not affect a deadline for finalizing the renewable fuel volume obligations by June 14.
Under the Renewable Fuel Standard, oil refiners are required to blend billions of gallons of biofuels into the nation’s fuel mix, or buy tradeable credits from those that do. The EPA administers the law.
While Congress set out specific goals through 2022, the law expands the EPA’s authority to change the way the RFS is administered. Starting next year, the agency will have leeway to set multi-year mandates and make other changes.
In July, Growth Energy and the EPA submitted a consent decree agreement that required the EPA to propose 2023 renewable fuel volume requirements by Nov. 16.
The EPA is already late on a Nov. 1, 2021 deadline to finalize 2023 renewable fuel volume requirements.
(Reporting by Stephanie Kelly)
