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Senators Call on EPA to Protect the Integrity of the RFS

More lawmakers are pressing the Trump administration to avoid making any decisions on small refinery exemptions until after the Supreme Court rules in pending litigation.

Thursday, a group of Midwest Senators penned a letter to the administration. The letter states, “Alarming new reports indicate that your Environmental Protection Agency may issue numerous pending small refinery exemptions which would be a devastating blow to biofuels producers and the farmers who sell to them.”

The effort follows a similar letter by the House Biofuels Caucus earlier this week. The letters stem from a Reuters report that the Trump administration was readying three new waivers for compliance year 2019.

The Senate effort includes Republicans Chuck Grassley, Joni Ernst, both of Iowa, along with Roger Marshall of Kansas, Mike Rounds of South Dakota, and Roy Blunt and Josh Hawley of Missouri. Meanwhile, the EPA Thursday proposed extending the RFS compliance deadline for the 2019 compliance year to November 2021 and the 2020 deadlines to 2022.