Today, EPA issued its 35th small refinery exemption from the 2017 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper had the following statement: "If these exemption trends continue, they will fully and completely undermine the RFS at the expense of rural America and cause consumers to pay more at the pump for dirtier fuels. With dozens of ethanol plants closing or idling and U.S. ethanol consumption showing the first annual decline in 20 years, it is unfathomable that the new EPA Administrator would double down on former Administrator Pruitt's unjustifiable abuse of the small refinery exemption provision. We hope that today's waiver marks the end of this destructive trend and hope to see a more transparent process in the weeks to come as EPA decides on the 39 pending 2018 exemption requests."
