Comment period on 2019 RFS proposal closes this week
U.S. EPA
August 13, 2018
BY Erin Krueger
The public comment period on the U.S. EPA’s proposed rule to set 2019 renewable volume obligations (RVOs) under the Renewable Fuel Standard, along with the 2020 RVO for biomass-based diesel, closes Aug. 17.
The EPA released the proposed rule on June 26. It aims to require 19.88 billion gallons of biofuels to be blended into the U.S. fuel supply in 2019, up from 19.29 billion gallons in 2018.
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The proposed 19.88 billion gallon RVO for 2019 includes 381 million gallons of cellulosic biofuel, 4.88 billion gallons of advanced biofuel and 2.1 billion gallons of biomass-based diesel. The 2019 RVO for biomass-based diesel was set last year. The proposed 2019 RVOs would allow for up to 15 billion gallons of conventional biofuel to meet the annual blending requirement, most of which is corn ethanol.
The rulemaking also proposes to set the 2020 RVO for biomass-based diesel at 2.43 billion gallons, up 330 million gallons when compared to the 2019 and 2018 RVOs of 2.1 billion gallons.
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On a percentage basis, the proposed rule would require total renewable fuel to comprise 10.88 percent of U.S. transportation fuel next year, including 2.67 percent advanced biofuel, 1.72 percent biomass-based diesel and 0.209 percent cellulosic biofuel.
According to information posted to Regulations.gov, nearly 280,000 comments have already been received on the proposal. Comments can be filed through Aug. 17 under Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2018-0167.
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