The following is a statement from North Dakota farmer Kevin Skunes, president of the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), on the RFS waivers reportedly granted to a large refiner by the EPA.
“EPA’s reported actions are unacceptable,” Skunes said. “EPA cannot undermine the RFS by granting waivers to refiners who are making profits as large as the one reported by Reuters. Granting these waivers significantly reduces the number of gallons of fuel blended with ethanol hurting rural economies and the nation’s corn farmers. When refiners aren’t meeting their blending obligations, corn farmers pay the price.
“EPA’s small refiner exemption process has no transparency,” Skunes said. “We need the EPA to live up to Administrator Pruitt’s October commitment to senators to, ‘act consistent with the text and spirit of the RFS,’ and to do so in an ‘open and transparent manner that advances the full potential of this program.’ We call on the EPA to stop granting these waivers to refiners who make billions of dollars and do not face a true hardship.”