Category: Small Refinery Exemptions (SREs)

What the SRE Reallocation Fight Means for the RFS

October 15, 2025

EPA has moved to address how to account for billions of gallons of renewable fuel blending obligations that were waived by Small Refinery Exemptions (SREs). The Agency’s supplemental proposal would either fully or partially (50%) reallocate those waived volumes into future Renewable Volume Obligations (RVOs)—a move that would directly increase demand for biofuels (and RINs) if added to the increases for biofuels in the proposed 2026–2027 RVOs. This proposal has once again pitted importers and refiners against the agricultural and biofuels sectors. Background — How We Got Here SRE authority was created within the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) framework to... Read More →

Two Landmark Court Rulings Have the Potential to Reshape the Future of the Renewable Fuel Standard

July 16, 2025

Two major federal court decisions—one from the U.S. Supreme Court and the other from the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals—are poised to significantly impact the administration and future direction of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), EPA’s signature biofuel blending program. Supreme Court Centralizes Refinery Waiver Disputes In a 7–2 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that legal challenges over EPA’s denial of small refinery exemptions (SREs) must be heard exclusively by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The Court held that EPA’s mass denial of SRE petitions was rooted in a nationwide policy judgment—that most refiners can... Read More →

Supreme Court to Hear Case with Potential to Reshape Legal Landscape of RFS

January 14, 2025

The U.S. Supreme Court has recently agreed to hear a critical case which could reshape the legal landscape of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and its authority. The case, Environmental Protection Agency v. Calumet Shreveport Refining, LLC, Case No. 23-1229, centers around a pivotal question regarding the jurisdiction for reviewing denials of small refinery exemptions (SREs) under the RFS. This decision, once rendered, could have far-reaching implications for both the future of the RFS and the authority of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in implementing environmental policy related to biofuels. Background: The Renewable Fuel Standard and Small Refinery Exemptions... Read More →

Back to the Drawing Board: Court Vacates Certain EPA Denial of SREs

September 11, 2024

So, a bit of background. Most of you are already familiar with the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and Small Refinery Exemptions (SRE). If you are not, please be sure to read up on them in previous posts. Now that that’s done, let’s look at the issue at hand. In 2022, EPA denied all SREs that had been petitioned. The Agency reasoned that only compliance costs with the RFS were relevant to showing disproportionate economic harm, and these costs could simply be passed along to their consumers. As such, EPA concluded that small refineries do not face any economic hardship via... Read More →

Small Refineries and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day(s): EPA Denies 26 Small Refinery Exemptions; D.C. Circuit Court Dismisses Cases Challenging EPA’s Compliance Schedule

August 8, 2023

I think there needs to be a book like “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day,” but for adults. Maybe, “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Adulting,” complete with an accurate description of the 40-hour work week, taxes, and what paying student loans feels like. Given recent events, small refineries might be able to relate to either book. Within the past month, EPA has made a couple of decisions that have gained a fair amount of attention. First, EPA denied 26 Small Refinery Exemptions (SRE) petitions between the years 2016-2018 and 2021-2023. Second, the... Read More →

As Disappointing as a Millennial: EPA’s Denials of SREs Stayed by 5th Circuit Decision

February 1, 2023

Being the resident millennial has its challenges and disappointments. For example, no one, not even one person, has offered me a participation trophy just for showing up to work. My parents say that’s what a salary is, but that’s not the same thing. Given recent events, perhaps no one understands being challenged and disappointed quite like EPA. To be more specific, recently, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a few of EPA’s denials of Small Refiner Exemptions (SREs) are stayed. The facts of the case are fairly straight forward. Calumet Shreveport Refining LLC (“Calumet”) and the San Antonio... Read More →

I’m Shook! EPA Denies 36 Small Refinery Exemptions for the Compliance Year 2018

April 13, 2022

It seems like I’ve written a lot of articles on Small Refinery Exemptions (SREs). In my defense, there’s been a lot of material there. For example, last week EPA denied 36 petitions for SREs the 2018 compliance year. For a quick refresher, an SRE is a little bit of a “safe harbor” provision within the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) regulations that excuses or waives the compliance obligations for a small refinery so long as certain criteria are met. First, the petitioning refinery (the refinery asking for the petition) must qualify as small under the regulations. Second, the refinery must have... Read More →

I Take It Back! EPA Files to Reconsider 2019 SREs

September 8, 2021

Have you ever made a decision and then were like, uh, actually, wait, I didn’t mean that? I do this all the time. Some people call it being indecisive, I call it my prerogative, but we can agree to disagree right? In that spirit, U.S. EPA has recently filed a Motion to Remand without Vacatur with the D.C. Circuit Court to voluntarily reevaluate 31 Small Refinery Exemptions (SREs) that were granted in previous compliance years. For those of you who don’t know what an SRE is or how it applies to the industry, I have an article for you to read... Read More →

Winds of Change: EPA Announces Support of 10th Circuit Decision

March 10, 2021

The winds of change are blowing directly at EPA….and causing the agency to shift in a completely opposite direction. At the risk of speaking too soon, it looks like EPA might be returning to a pre-2016 narrower read of the regulations with respect to small refinery exemptions (SREs). Recently , EPA announced that after “careful consideration of the 2020 decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Renewable Fuels Association et al. v. EPA, 948 F.3d 1206 (“Decision”), EPA supports that court’s interpretation of the renewable fuel standard (RFS) small-refinery provisions.” EPA’s announcement follows the decision of the... 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 →