US EPA to release update on biofuel blending waivers

By Stephanie Kelly

NEW YORK, Jan 19 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was expected to release an update late on Tuesday on pending waivers for oil refiners that would exempt them from U.S. biofuel blending obligations, EPA said in a notice.

It was not immediately clear whether EPA would grant the pending waivers or reject them. The waivers have been a point of controversy, as ethanol producers say they hurt demand for their products, while oil refiners reject that claim and say they are necessary to keep small refiners afloat.

The Trump administration recently announced a series of moves regarding U.S. biofuel blending laws. The agency earlier said it was requesting comment on a potential general waiver for refiners for the 2019 and 2020 compliance years and also was proposing a new rule that would remove or alter the labeling for retail gasoline that contains higher ethanol blends.

The agency also said it was proposing to further extend the deadlines for oil refiners to prove compliance with blending requirements for both the 2019 and 2020 years.

Last week EPA signaled it would not act on a slew of pending individual waiver requests submitted by refining facilities because of pending litigation.

Under the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard, refiners are required to blend billions of gallons of biofuels into their fuel mix, or buy credits from those that do. Refiners can apply for an exemption if they can prove the requirements would do them financial harm. (Reporting by Stephanie Kelly; editing by Richard Pullin)