Renewable fuel advocates are fuming after the Environmental Protection Agency confirmed Thursday it is considering 52 new pending small refinery exemptions that date as far back as 2011.

Some ethanol plants are slowly coming back online as gasoline demand grows, but FDA guidelines continue to make it difficult for facilities to produce alcohol for hand sanitizer, industry leaders say.

Some ethanol plants who just spent thousands of dollars altering equipment to make hand sanitizer are fuming after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reversed its guidance that relaxed alcohol regulations for hand sanitizer production.

Over 100 biofuel plants across the country are fully idling or cutting production rates as gas prices fall because people are staying at due to the COVID-19 outbreak and major oil producers feud over output.

A bipartisan pair of senators have introduced legislation seeking to adjust royalty rates for oil and gas leases on public lands.

Last year was a difficult year for biofuel producers, but the leader of one of the nation’s largest ethanol lobbies said there are reasons to be optimistic in 2020.

Biofuel groups say a Trump administration plan to account for gallons of renewable fuel waived through small refinery exemptions is unsatisfactory and goes back on commitments offered earlier this month.

The Environmental Protection Agency has granted 31 small refinery exemptions from the 2018 Renewable Fuel Standard compliance year, a move that immediately angered the biofuel industry.

Supporters of EPA’s upcoming proposal to allow year-round use of gasoline blended with 15 percent ethanol made their case on a call with reporters today, saying that the blend is safe, dependable, and cuts down on smog-forming tailpipe emissions.