June 13, 2025
Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the long-awaited proposed renewable volume obligations (RVOs) for 2026 and 2027 under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), as well as the final rule regarding the partial waiver of the 2024 Cellulosic Biofuel Volume Requirements.
For the proposed rule, EPA set the RVOs at 24.02 billion Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) of renewable fuel in 2026, and 24.46 billion RINs in 2027. 2026 RVOs are an increase of 1.69 billion RINs over 2025 requirements. EPA is also considering a waiver for the 2025 mandate for cellulosic biofuel.
Since RVOs set demand for RINs, the announcement has pushed RIN prices higher given the increased volume obligations. Because this is just a proposal, EPA will hold a virtual public hearing on July 8, 2025. An additional session will be held on July 9, 2025, if needed.
For the final rule for 2024 RVOs, EPA reduced the cellulosic biofuel volume requirement from 1.09 billion to 1.01 billion, and implemented its Cellulosic Waiver Authority. The new compliance deadlines for obligated parties for 2024 reporting will be set once the final rule is published in the Federal Register.