White House completes review of EPA's biofuel-blending obligation proposal
- Proposal impacts oil and biofuel industries, major lobbying powers
- EPA proposal expected to cover 2026–2027
- White House mulls plan to address backlog of refinery exemption requests
The White House has completed its review of a proposal regarding U.S. biofuel-blending obligations and returned the rule to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for further action, according to the website for the Office of Management and Budget.
The oil and biofuel industries, both major lobbying powers in Washington, have highly anticipated the release of the proposal. As one of the first decisions the Trump administration makes regarding federal biofuel policy, it will give insight into whether President Donald Trump during his term will bolster the biofuel industry, which has at times been at odds with oil companies.
Under U.S. law, oil refiners must blend billions of gallons of biofuels into the nation's fuel mix, or buy tradable credits from those that do. Small refiners can seek exemptions to the obligations if they can prove the requirements would cause them undue harm.
The EPA is expected to release a proposal that covers both 2026 and 2027, sources say.
Industry participants will be focused on proposed mandates for biomass-based diesel blending, as some believed previous obligations were too low. A U.S. and biofuel coalition led by the American Petroleum Institute (API) advocated in recent months that the EPA propose federal mandates for biomass diesel blending for 2026 at 5.25 billion gallons (Bgal), which would be a significant increase from previous mandates.
The coalition, which brought some oil and biofuel groups together in a historically unusual move, also recommended total federal biofuel blending mandates for 2026 at 25 Bgal. The EPA set biomass-based diesel mandates for the 2025 compliance year at 3.35 Bgal.
Industry participants are also awaiting indication on how the EPA will address outstanding requests from small refineries for exemptions to the mandates.
The White House is weighing a plan to clear a record backlog of those requests, which could include approving many current applications and requesting industry input to deal with older ones.
There are more than 160 outstanding requests for exemptions that represent potentially billions of dollars worth of tradable credits.
Comments