Refineries threaten EPA as ethanol fight ramps up

[Elderberry]

Houston Chronicle by  James Osborne July 18, 2019

An attorney representing a group of unnamed refineries is threatening to sue the Environmental Protection Agency if it doesn't start granting waivers from the federal ethanol mandate.

The attorney, LeAnn Johnson Koch, a D.C.-based energy attorney with the law firm Perkins Coie, said in a letter dated Wednesday that they would file a federal lawsuit in 60 days time unless the EPA starts issuing waivers, which are granted to smaller refineries that can prove the mandate poses a financial hardship.

More: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/Refineries-threaten-EPA-as-ethanol-fight-ramps-up-14103615.php

[Elderberry]

With 2020 looming, Trump weighs boosting farmers at refineries’ expense

James Osborne July 5, 2019

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/With-2020-looming-Trump-weighs-boosting-farmers-14070798.php] [url]https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/With-2020-looming-Trump-weighs-boosting-farmers-14070798.php[/url]

The future of an exemption shielding oil refining companies from a federal mandate that they blend corn-based ethanol into the nation’s fuel supply is looking increasingly uncertain amid increasing political pressure on the Trump administration ahead of the 2020 presidential election.

Months after the Environmental Protection Agency, was expected to begin issuing exemptions from the most recent ethanol requirements, refineries are still waiting for word.

The delay follows a visit by Trump to Iowa last month, which, following his recent order to lift air pollution laws restricting the year-round sale of gasoline with a higher concentration of ethanol, was expected to be a hero’s welcome. But during his visit,Trump heard from farmers and those working within the ethanol industry the refinery exemptions were hurting their business.

“They’re concerned and I think the president heard that concern directly from farmers,” said Geoff Cooper, president of the ethanol industry trade group Renewable Fuels Association. “The year-round allowance for E15 [gasoline with 15 percent ethanol] doesn’t do much if anything for ethanol demand if the [mandate] is not being fully enforced.”

Since the visit, Trump has reportedly pressured EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to take a look at what are known as small refinery exemptions, designed to provide relief for refineries in financial distress, which, because of their size, are less equipped to overhaul their operations to blend ethanol.

More at link.