10-10-2013

AFPM files lawsuit challenging renewable fuel standard

American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) filed a lawsuit today in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2013 renewable fuel standard.

AFPM has taken issue with EPA’s reliance on data that was not available for public comment and its use of a methodology for setting cellulosic biofuel requirements that is shrouded in secrecy and continues to overestimate the amount of cellulosic fuel that will be produced and available for compliance. AFPM also is asking the court to force EPA to abide by the statutory deadlines and put an end to EPA’s retroactive application of the renewable fuel requirements, which confounds refiners’ ability to comply with the law.

“The agency has repeatedly disregarded the timelines established in the Clean Air Act to finalize standards prior to the beginning of the compliance year. This retroactive rulemaking harms refiners and must stop,” said AFPM General Counsel Rich Moskowitz.

AFPM simultaneously petitioned EPA to waive the cellulosic biofuel requirement based on EPA data and statements from cellulosic biofuel producers demonstrating that there will be a dramatic shortfall in the amount of cellulosic biofuel produced in 2013.

“EPA continues to ignore the admonition of the DC Circuit to establish realistic, not aspirational, biofuel standards (Case No. 12-1139, D.C. Cir. 2013). The Agency’s reliance on statements made by biofuel producers with an interest in creating a large government mandate for their product has not worked and will not work,” continued Moskowitz.

“While EPA missed the mark in finalizing the 2013 renewable fuel standards, we are pleased that the Agency acknowledged the problems with the ethanol blendwall and are cautiously optimistic that it will exercise its waiver authority in connection with the upcoming 2014 rulemaking to establish more feasible volumes of renewable fuels,” said Moskowitz.