On Friday, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruled on the legality of granting SRE?s to refiners without any prior need for such waivers. In a 6-3 vote, the justices said that refiners were eligible for such waivers without any consecutive need for waivers in the past. This decision reversed a decision by the 10th Circuit Court, but it was by no means a death blow to the biofuels initiative. There is still plenty of room for the EPA to get it right.
Audio: Full Interview with Monte Shaw of the IRFA
Iowa Renewable Fuels Association Executive Director Monte Shaw clearly explains how the exemption system works. He says that this description is what most often is misunderstood. He says all small refiners were given an exemption at the beginning of the program to help them get their affairs in order for the switch.
Shaw said the position has always been that the exemptions and their extensions were about giving refiners time to become compliant with the RFS. Once that had been achieved, there was no reason for those compliant refiners to reapply. However, that is what has been happening, and that is what the SCOTUS decision allows to keep happening.
However, Shaw also says that this does not mean there will be automatic and wholesale granting of waiver extensions. Shaw says the Biden EPA still has the right to deny any waiver that does not meet the requirements for a legal exemption. In fact, this was the decision of the 10th Circuit Court. That part of the decision was not part of the SCOTUS ruling. Shaw says that the Biden Administration made a promise to abide by the RFS, and now they need to make good on it.
Of course, the last administration also promised to uphold the RFS, and they clearly did not. That is why we are in the mess that we are in. So, just because this administration made the same vow, does not mean the industry is not going to remain skeptical until they see results.
