National Biodiesel Board lobbies White House on RFS support, refiners’ gripes

The US National Biodiesel Board has written to President Trump to praise his support of the Renewable Fuel Standard, decry complaints from the US refining sector and call for the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2018 and 2019 production volume target proposals to be revised.

In a multi-pronged attack, the NBB highlights significant profits for the refining sector revealed in a number of third quarter company results, and contrasts those results with their ongoing criticism around the financial burden both of the RFS and the accompanying RINS process, according to the press release published Thursday.

The NBB also took aim at the EPA’s July 5 proposal to set biofuel volume requirements for 2018, stating that the current target volumes are “so low that, if finalized, they will halt the growth of the biomass-based diesel industry.”

The current proposal sets out target of 2.1 billion gallons of biomass-based biodiesel for both 2018 and 2019, a level that is already behind the current production capacity of 2.6 billion gallons, according to the NBB.

The NBB is calling for a volume of 4.75 billion gallons for advanced biofuels, and 2.5 billion gallons for biomass-based biodiesel.

The RFS is the key legislative piece underpinning US policy on renewable fuels and has been fundamental in turning the US into the world’s most efficient producer of ethanol – the vast bulk of which is produced from corn.

The EPA establishes the obligations on the fuel suppliers on an annual basis, with final approval and confirmation coming after a prolonged period of discussion and feedback – much of which provides an opportunity for two of the US’s most powerful lobby groups, energy and agriculture, to renew battle lines.

According to opensecrets.org, the current lobbying spend for 2017-2018 by the US energy and natural resources sector amounts to $31 million, versus the agribusiness spend of just under $23 million.