Category: Regulatory Policy & Procedures

RVP and the Year-Round Sale of E15: What’s Happening?

April 16, 2025

Midwest states have long championed the use of E15—a gasoline blend containing 15% ethanol—for its promise to lower fuel costs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and support rural economies. However, efforts to enable year-round sales of E15 have faced many regulatory hurdles and push back for over a decade. What Is RVP? Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) is a measure of how easily gasoline evaporates, indicating the fuel’s volatility. This matters because more volatile fuels evaporate faster, especially in warm weather, which can contribute to the formation of ground-level ozone, or smog. To protect air quality—particularly in the summer when ozone pollution... Read More →

The Grand Finale: EPA Releases Final “Set” Rule

July 11, 2023

The thing that everyone has been talking about for the past few months has finally happened. *Cue the drumroll please* EPA released the final “Set” rule. Boasting nearly 500 pages, the final “Set” rule included several provisions, such as: the formal withdrawal of eRINs from the final rule, new Renewable Volume Obligations (RVOs) for 2023-2025, EPA setting a precedent for releasing RVOs every three years, an amendment to the separated food waste record-keeping rule, biogas reform rules, and many other provisions. Don’t worry, I read all 468 pages so that you don’t have to experience the absolute joy of reading... Read More →

Falling Down and Getting Up: The Next Generation Fuels Act Reintroduced in Congress

April 12, 2023

Growing up as a competitive figure skater taught me valuable life lessons that I have taken with me into adulthood. For example, don’t open your eyes when your mom is spraying hairspray, remember to drink your water, and most importantly, if you fall, get back up and try again. Trying again is a good way to phrase the recent reintroduction of the Next Generation Fuels Act into Congress Oh neat, Congress is doing something and tagging on to the Clean Air Act. Actually, the proposed pieces of legislation are a little bit heftier than that. The body of legislation aims... Read More →

She Blinded Me With Science! EPA Releases Third Triennial Report on RFS

March 14, 2023

Why can’t you trust an atom? Because they make up everything! …I bet I’m the only one here that appreciates a good science joke…Did you know that there are times when science and policy collide within the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS)? Like nuclear fission, this collision of science and policy has the potential to energize the RFS, moving it forward. How does it do that? By the release of the “Biofuels and the Environment Third Triennial Report to Congress (the “Report”). Under the Energy and Independence Security Act (EISA), EPA is required to report on the effects the RFS has... Read More →

Falling Into Place: How EPA Promulgates Regulatory Rules

September 14, 2022

Like every basic girl, I absolutely love fall! The pumpkin spice, the leaves changing color, the fuzzy socks, the scented candles, literally all the things. While we think about the autumn leaves and apple pies (mmm pie), let’s talk about what EPA has to do for a rule to “fall” into place. Throughout this blog, I’ve talked a lot about court cases, industry reaction to a specific EPA-made rule, and other similar things. However, I haven’t really explained everything that goes into how EPA makes rules in the first place. In order to understand everything that goes on, both behind... Read More →

Fueling the Discussion: EPA Issues Emergency E15 RVP Waiver

May 11, 2022

My dad, being the king of dad jokes that he is, recently told me that he needed to take out a loan application…so that he could put gas in his car… While he was quite pleased with the joke, his take on the price of a gallon of fuel these days is felt by many commuters at the pump. Like the typical daughter, I roll my eyes at his jokes, but the fuel supply issues these days are nothing to roll your eyes at. EPA, called on by the Biden Administration, has felt these constraints and has recently allowed an... Read More →

Pushing It Back! EPA Finalizes Proposal for Extension of Annual Compliance Deadlines

February 9, 2022

During law school, as far as my law professors were concerned, the word “extension” did not exist in the English language. You could ask for an extension and they would look at you like you had antennas growing out of your head and act like they’ve never heard the word before. EPA, on the other hand, not only knows the word, but uses it…with fervor… Recently, EPA finalized the proposal to extend compliance deadlines for obligated parties under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) as well as the conditioning of deadlines on the release of Renewable Volume Obligations (RVOs). More specifically,... Read More →

17 More Days Until Christmas! How Compliance Deadline Move the RFS Forward

December 8, 2021

The month of December really transforms me into the living impersonation of the Christmas spirit. I decorate my house (and the office), make Christmas cookies, and listen to and sing all the Christmas songs on repeat…much to the chagrin of my coworkers. However, the one Grinch-like item that many people have to deal with this time of year is: deadlines. Whether it’s buying that last present or trying to get the numbers to the boss, everyone is dealing with a deadline. Under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), obligated parties are required to retire RINs against their incurred Renewable Volume Obligations... Read More →

Get Ready, Get Set Go! EPA Sets Renewable Volume Obligations for 2023 and Beyond

November 10, 2021

I have two siblings, which means the phrase “ready, get set, go” gives me anxiety. Inevitably, one of my siblings would start before any of us and the game went steadily downhill from there. Similarly, EPA is currently on the “get set” phase of setting volumes for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) for 2023 and beyond…but isn’t jumping ahead of anyone. Just as a quick little reminder, for the RFS, the year 2022 Is. Not. A. Sunset. Date. *ahem* Now that we’ve got that out of the way, EPA is statutorily required to set the RVOs for 2023 and beyond... Read More →

The Man with the Plan: Biden’s Pick for EPA Administrator Wants a More Thorough Review of Biofuels Policies

February 10, 2021

Sometimes, the only thing you need is Stan, the man with the plan…or in this case, Michael Regan. The Biden Administration’s pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to sit down with general counsel to go over the biofuels policy with respect to Small Refiner Exemptions (SREs). As many of you know, each new presidential administration is able to pick its own administrators. The head of the EPA, otherwise known as the EPA Administrator, is one such position. The person picked for this position is typically someone who can best enable the incoming administration’s environmental policy. As the... Read More →