WASHINGTON, D.C. – AFPM released the following statement today in response to media reports that the White House has instructed EPA to deny retroactive waivers to small refineries seeking hardship relief.
"We hope these rumors are inaccurate. It would be a mistake and a further undoing of his energy dominance agenda for the president to turn his back on small refineries in yet another attempt to appease Iowa ethanol groups. The president has given the ethanol industry everything it has asked for and they have achieved record blending and consumption of their product on his watch. By now the president should know they will never be satisfied.
"Gasoline production is down because of Covid-19. Refineries are closing across the country and people are losing good union manufacturing jobs. Now is not the time to deny relief to small refineries who face disproportionate economic harm because of the Renewable Fuel Standard.
"Whomever this leaker is, they have already moved the RIN market and made the RFS even more expensive for refineries and consumers. Compliance credits are nearly six times higher today than they were at the beginning of the year. The President can fix this. He can reject ‘reallocation’ demands and keep relief lifelines for small refineries, their workers and communities intact."
The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) is the leading trade association representing the makers of the fuels that keep us moving, the petrochemicals that are the essential building blocks for modern life, and the midstream companies that get our feedstocks and products where they need to go. We make the products that make life better, safer and more sustainable — we make progress.
