A dozen farm and fuel groups told lawmakers tasked with crafting new biofuel legislation to stay focused on expanding availability of U.S. ethanol and reining in exemptions from the Renewable Fuel Standard.
The push comes after Congress created the E-15 Rural Energy Council earlier this month to study a measure to allow year-round sales of higher ethanol blends and limit the number of refiners eligible for exemption from the RFS, the law behind a national mandate for blending a certain amount of biofuels into the U.S. fuel supply each year.
The E15 bill, which had been on track to be added to funding legislation needed to avoid a government shutdown, was derailed after an outcry from small, independent oil refiners opposed to the RFS provision on small refinery exemptions (SREs). That left corn farmers and API frustrated and calling for lawmakers to revive the legislative efforts as quickly as possible.
API, the powerful oil and gas lobby, and groups representing smaller refiners are at odds over the SRE issue, with API arguing that the current system for exemptions distorts the market and creates uncertainty, while independent energy firms say big refiners want to drive them out of business with costly compliance costs.
After a deal for an E15 bill fell apart, House lawmakers created the council to “develop legislative solutions to address the crisis facing our nation’s farmers and refiners.” The task force is being led by Republican Reps. Randy Feenstra of Iowa and Stephanie Bice of Oklahoma. Democrats have called for representation on the council, which is charged with coming up with proposals by Feb. 15, with a goal of lawmakers taking up a bill by Feb. 25.
“With a limited timeline of less than three weeks, we would recommend keeping a narrow scope related to the production and sale of E15,” groups such as the Renewable Fuels Association, Growth Energy and the American Farm Bureau Federation wrote in a Jan. 30 letter to Feenstra and Bice.
“Farmers are making planting decisions, and a legislative fix is needed as soon as possible to provide fuel producers and retailers with a predictable policy framework as we approach the summer driving season,” the organizations wrote.
The groups warned that if the council delves into other issues, it will delay getting a bill passed into law. Separately, the American Soybean Association has raised concern about the potential for the E-15 council to review a broad range of biofuel policies, including those like RFS, which it sees as critical to supporting U.S. markets for soybeans.
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