800 326 9054As the lobbying push for year-round E15 heats up anew, the National Corn Growers Association is calling out oil companies for what NCGA calls “greedy actions” that are stalling pro-ethanol legislation in Congress.
The criticism comes as the corn growers group, American Petroleum Institute and other farm and fuel organizations urged all members of Congress in an open letter to back a proposed measure that would allow year-round sales of higher ethanol blends, or E15.
It also would overhaul the process for small refiners to seek exemption from biofuel-blending rules under the Renewable Fuel Standard, prompting outcry from an independent refinery trade group. Some smaller refiners say yearly biofuel quotas are economically crushing due to compliance costs, putting U.S. oil sector jobs at risk. Ag groups and some farm-heavy states question the need for RFS exemptions by some companies that also boast robust profits.
“There is a tiny minority of major energy corporations, like Delek U.S., Cenovus Energy, CVR Energy, HF Sinclair, Par Pacific and Suncor Energy, that are masquerading as small refineries to get Renewable Fuel Standard exemptions they don’t need,” Ohio farmer and NCGA President Jed Bower said in a statement on Thursday. “Their greedy actions are holding up legislation that would help farmers who are struggling during tough economic times.”
Spokespeople for the oil companies didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
After months of political wrangling and legislative dead ends, a bipartisan group of lawmakers is moving ahead with a plan to attach the latest E15 measure into a U.S. House farm bill that’s set to get a full floor vote as soon as next week.
Along with allowing year-round, voluntary sales of E15, the bill would enable EPA to grant RFS waivers if a refinery is on the brink of economic collapse or converting to production of renewable fuel.
Fueling American Jobs Coalition, a trade group made up of independent refiners and union workers, rejected the proposal on Wednesday, calling it an attempt “to push already unachievable ethanol mandates higher, adding to what is already a 29-cent-per-gallon hidden gas tax on American consumers.”
Push for voluntary E15 moves ahead
API, which represents big refiners and seeks the overhaul of small refinery exemptions, NCGA, Renewable Fuels Association, Growth Energy, American Farm Bureau Federation and trade groups representing truck stops, convenience stores and fuel retailers are pressing members of Congress to support the proposed E15 amendment being added to the House farm bill.
“This amendment reflects a unique area of agreement across the fuel and agriculture supply chain,” the groups wrote in their letter. “While our industries do not always see eye to eye, we are united in the belief that these policy reforms provide needed certainty, preserve consumer choice, and support agriculture and energy economies alike.”
Small refinery exemptions have been a contentious issue for Republicans and Democrats alike for years. API’s push to rein in SREs is drawing ire from smaller refiners that argue larger competitors are trying to squeeze them out of the market.
API says it wants a more transparent, less volatile system.Biomass-based diesel and soybean groups have previously that changes to the SRE process could trigger unintended consequences for their industries. In January, when a proposed SRE overhaul derailed an E15 deal in the House, the American Soybean Association said that while it supports year-round E15, it remained concerned about any effort “to weaken the Renewable Fuel Standard and other policies U.S. soybean farmers rely on for domestic market demand.”
On the current E15 proposal, “ASA is still assessing the amendment and the impacts it would have long-term on the RFS, specifically soy-based biofuels, and farmers,” a spokesperson for the soybean group said in a statement to Agri-Pulse.
This story has been updated to add comment from the American Soybean Association.
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*Sourced from Agri-Pulse.