Farmers and biofuel producers are celebrating a proposal from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin to reallocate renewable fuel requirements from which small refineries received an exemption.
The move ensures that renewable fuel blending standards set by the EPA are maintained after small refineries — that prove they would receive “disproportionate economic hardship” by complying with the renewable fuel standards — receive exemptions from EPA.
At the end of August, the EPA fully or partially exempted nearly 30 small refineries from the 2025 renewable fuel standard obligations, but also said it planned to reallocate 100% of the fuel exempted from the small refineries.
Fuel producers satisfy EPA’s annual renewable fuel standards by either blending renewable fuels, like ethanol or biodiesel, into their products or by purchasing credits to offset the gas they produce.
Zeldin, as part of his tour through Iowa, proposed two possible avenues to reallocate the renewable identification numbers, or RINs, while in Peosta Oct. 13.
The first option would spread the more than 770 million RINs worth of exempted renewable fuel equally across 2026 and 2027 compliance years, while the second option would add the exempted RINs to the 2027 compliance year.
The EPA news release on the proposal included statements from Iowa’s all-Republican congressional delegation, the majority of whom are on the ballot.
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