The Environmental Protection Agency will propose long-awaited biofuel blending targets under the Renewable Fuel Standard for 2014, 2015 and 2016 all at once this spring.
The EPA has punted on releasing the 2014 targets under the federal fuel mandate for more than a year — they were supposed to be finalized in November 2013. The 2014 target will be based on actual production, Christopher Grundler, director at the EPA’s Office of Air Quality and Transportation, told Reuters.
The battle over the 2014 figure has been heated. The agency for the first time proposed blending less than Congress planned for when it expanded the rule in 2007, citing weak production from next-generation biofuels and declining gasoline demand.
Last year, the biofuel industry blended 17 billion gallons of fuel, 14.3 billion of which was corn-based ethanol, according to Reuters.
Grundler said it didn’t yet know how it would calculate blending targets for 2015 or 2016.
Opponents of the rule, such as those in the oil industry and some carmakers, contend refiners are being forced to mix higher concentrations of ethanol into fuel that could damage cars. The EPA acknowledged those concerns about a “blend wall” when it proposed the lower volumes of 15.2 billion gallons in September 2013.
Supporters of the fuel rule, however, note the EPA has said a mid-level concentration of fuel that contains 15 percent ethanol, compared with the conventional blend of 10 percent, is safe for cars made in 2001 or later. The rule’s boosters say it’s a boon for rural jobs and that the scheduled increases in blending targets — which accelerate to 36 billion gallons by 2022 — maintain investment in the industry.
