WASHINGTON, D.C. – A bipartisan group of governors from Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming have petitioned EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler to exercise his agency’s general waiver authority to waive Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) compliance burdens for the year 2020 due to the experience of severe economic hardship throughout the refining industry and nationally amid COVID-19.
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) adopted its Advanced Clean Cars II (ACCII) regulation. ACCII requires 35% of light-duty vehicle sales to qualify as “zero emission” by 2026 and 100% by 2035. Essentially, this amounts to a ban on new sales of traditional gasoline and diesel-powered cars and trucks. To implement the policy, California will need a Clean Air Act waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). If EPA grants the waiver, millions of Americans—including many outside of California—could lose the option to buy the car or truck THEY want.
Nine U.S. senators today called on the administration to uphold the law and ensure that qualified small refineries continue to have protection from disproportionate economic hardship brought on by the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).
America’s refiners and motor gasoline suppliers are facing an unprecedented inventory management challenge as the national response to COVID-19 has reduced domestic demand for fuel.