As expected Friday, U.S. ethanol trade groups submitted comments on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed renewable volume obligations (RVOs) for 2023-2025. Each association put forth unique points of praise and concern for the federal government’s tentative plan for the Renewable Fuel Standard over the next two years.   

Leading with the positive, the Renewable Fuels Association said the proposed RVOs would bolster the RFS and promote sustainable growth in low-carbon renewable liquid fuels.

“Moving forward, expanding the use of low-carbon renewable fuels like ethanol is the most immediate and effective strategy for meeting the Administration’s carbon reduction goals,” wrote RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper, who noted that under the RFS, renewable fuels like ethanol have already resulted in the avoidance of more than 1.2 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector. “Once finalized, the 2023-2025 RVOs will further enhance the energy security, carbon reduction, and economic benefits that have already been realized under the RFS program.”

For 2023, EPA proposes to maintain an implied conventional renewable fuel requirement of 15 billion gallons, along with an additional 250-million-gallon supplemental standard for 2023 that would complete EPA’s compliance with a 2017 court decision, according to the RFA. The implied conventional requirement was proposed at 15.25 billion gallons for 2024 and 2025. According to RFA’s comments, “these volumes will drive continued adoption of technologies that reduce carbon intensity, as well as greater investment in the infrastructure needed to expand distribution and consumption of fuels with higher renewable fuel content, like E15 and E85.”

Also in its comments, the RFA voiced strong support for the EPA’s policy on small refinery exemptions, stating the agency’s approach matches “the spirit and intent of the law,” complies with recent court decisions, and brings much-needed certainty and long-term clarity to the RFS program.

Finally, the RFA encouraged EPA to re-evaluate growth opportunities for advanced biofuels such as biomass-based diesel and ensure that its final approach to renewable electricity RINs, or “eRINs,” honors the RFS program’s statutory intent, and is consistent with RIN generation provisions for all other renewable fuel pathways. RFA also asked the agency to revisit some of the problematic conclusions in its Draft Regulatory Impact Analysis.

Overall, the RFA said, the EPA is “moving in the right direction” with the RFS. “The RFS has been a tremendous success,” Cooper wrote. “It has bolstered energy security by reducing demand for petroleum imports; it has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by replacing petroleum with low-carbon, renewable alternatives; it has lowered fuel prices for American consumers; and it has created jobs and spurred economic development across the country.”

Growth Energy, in its formal comments submitted Friday, urged the agency to finalize robust RVOs for 2023-2025. Growth Energy backed its comments with two new studies reaffirming the need for EPA to accurately model ethanol’s climate benefits and reject unsupported claims that attempt to diminish ethanol’s significant environmental benefits.

“A stronger RFS will move America closer to a net-zero future, deliver savings at the pump for working families, strengthen U.S. energy security, and drive investment in rural communities,” said Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor. “We support the agency’s commitment to expanding the role of biofuels, and we urge EPA to leverage this opportunity to update the science that will guide federal climate efforts moving forward. We cannot allow old, inaccurate information to hold back progress or delay important decisions on programs like the RFS.”

Skor continued, “The path ahead is clear, and EPA must remain firmly on track to meet its June 14 deadline for a final rule,” Skor added, referencing a consent decree agreement between EPA and Growth Energy.

The research submitted by Growth Energy included a report from Ramboll, building on previous research submitted in 2019 that debunks much of the flawed science concerning biofuels’ effect on land use change and other environmental impacts, including under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The study adds to the wealth of public and private data demonstrating that the RFS remains “unlikely to result in material land conversion” or other impacts requiring further ESA reviews. Growth Energy also submitted a report conducted by Environmental, Health and Engineering Inc. which further highlights the important additional environmental and public health benefits of higher ethanol blends and adds to the literature knocking down flawed science on land use change.

In addition to emphasizing the environmental case for biofuels, Growth Energy’s written comments highlighted the economic and energy security benefits of a strong RFS. “Growth Energy agrees with EPA that raising RFS standards helps promote U.S. energy security and independence by reducing reliance on imports of petroleum,” they said. “Growth Energy also applauds EPA’s efforts to quantify these [economic] benefits with respect to its proposed 2023-2025 standards—which amount to a combined $653 million.”

The American Coalition made clear that what it supported and objected to in the RVO proposal. ACE backs an “effective” conventional biofuel requirement of 15.25 billion gallons for 2023 through 2025; restoring the final 250-million-gallon remedy as a supplemental requirement for 2023; the multi-year nature of the Set rule, because it provides market participants certainty to plan for the future; no Small Refinery Exemptions (SREs) for 2023 through 2025; and updating the EPA’s antiquated greenhouse gas (GHG) model assumptions and methodology in the future.

ACE stated clearly that it objects to the agency suggesting that it may retroactively waive blending levels established by this rulemaking; proposing an “alternative approach” to reduce conventional biofuel blending for 2024 and 2025 and expressing doubt about the ability for higher blends of corn-starch ethanol to play a primary role in helping fulfill the residual or implied conventional biofuel targets of the RFS; and breaking precedent by giving Tesla and other vehicle manufacturers the ability to generate eRINs when all other RINs are generated by the producer of the renewable fuel.

ACE encouraged the EPA to revisit its overly conservative ethanol blending projections evidenced by data from the EIA indicating the concentration of ethanol in U.S. gasoline set a record level of 10.5% during the summer of 2022; ensure any increase to advanced volumes be accompanied by a corresponding increase in total renewable fuel in the final rule; adopt GREET for its lifecycle modeling, consistent with what Congress required of Treasury in the Inflation Reduction Act 45Z clean fuel production tax credit; require stronger traceability and verification standards to avoid fraud and abuse of eRINs; prioritize approving corn kernel fiber pathway registrations in 2023; and take swift action on a plan by several governors to enable year-round access to E15 in their states.

“Ethanol can and should be an even bigger part of the solution to climate change, and we are encouraged by statements from you and USDA Secretary Vilsack that biofuels and agriculture will have a seat at the table as the Biden administration determines how to achieve the ambitious goal of net-zero carbon emissions in the U.S. by midcentury,” Jennings wrote. “We are particularly encouraged by new funding provided to USDA through the IRA to scale the deployment of climate-smart farming practices and demonstrate the link those practices have on reducing GHG emissions from products such as biofuels.”

In the comments, Jennings shares details on ACE’s USDA-funded project, in partnership with lop land-grant scientists and Sandia National Lab, to document and validate the benefits of climate smart practices on the carbon intensity of corn ethanol. “EPA’s proposal rightfully notes climate-smart agriculture practices can measurably reduce corn ethanol’s carbon intensity,” Jennings adds.