The U.S. Senate on Jan. 29 voted 56 to 42 to confirm Lee Zeldin to serve as administrator of the U.S. EPA. Representatives of the biofuels industry are congratulating Zeldin and expressing confidence he will keep the Renewable Fuel Standard on track. 

President Trump first announced plans to nominate Zeldin to lead the U.S. EPA in November 2024. Zeldin previously served as a member of Congress, where he cosponsored legislation to repeal and revise the RFS and nullify existing waivers allowing the sale of E15. 

As part of the Senate confirmation process, Zeldin appeared before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee during a Jan. 16 hearing, where various lawmakers pressed him on his support for the RFS, E15 and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The committee on Jan. 23 voted 11-8 to advance his nomination. With the full Senate vote now complete, Zeldin has been confirmed to lead the EPA. 

The Renewable Fuels Association, Growth Energy, American Coalition for Ethanol and the American Biogas Council have congratulated Zeldin on his confirmation and are pledging to work with his agency to advanced the use of biobased fuels. 

“We congratulate Lee Zeldin on his confirmation today and look forward to working together to implement President Trump’s vision for unleashing American energy, bolstering economic security, creating jobs, and supporting our nation’s farmers,” said Geoff Cooper, president and CEO of the RFA. “As noted during his Senate confirmation hearing, Mr. Zeldin understands that ethanol and other renewable fuels will play an important role in accomplishing the President’s energy and environmental objectives. We are confident he will support timely and transparent implementation of the Renewable Fuel Standard, take steps to facilitate expansion of lower-cost fuel blends like E15, and revisit extreme regulations that force automakers to produce costly electric vehicles that are heavily dependent on foreign raw materials. We are eager to collaborate with Administrator Zeldin and his entire team at EPA to empower greater use of more affordable, cleaner-burning, domestically produced liquid fuels.”

“Administrator Zeldin has made it clear that he understands how important American-made biofuels are to President Trump’s efforts to unleash American energy dominance,” said Emily Skor, CEO of Growth Energy. “He’s also committed to advancing year-round E15 and ensuring that America’s farmers and biofuel producers have the regulatory certainty under the Renewable Fuel Standard to plan and invest in rural growth. We thank Administrator Zeldin for agreeing to work alongside Senator Pete Ricketts and other rural champions on Capitol Hill to deliver a much-needed boost to the farm economy and greater fuel savings for hardworking Americans with homegrown ethanol.”

“We congratulate Lee Zeldin on his confirmation to lead EPA and look forward to working with him to keep the Renewable Fuel Standard on track, including safeguarding against the misuse of Small Refinery Exemptions and promptly moving forward on biofuel blending obligations for 2026 and beyond,” said Brian Jennings, CEO of ACE. “Other priorities we will be raising with Administrator Zeldin include providing consumers with choices to use higher blends of ethanol in flexible fuel vehicles, supporting efforts to ensure nationwide year-round availability of E15, and applying the most recent GREET model to determine the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions for corn ethanol.”

 “On behalf of the American Biogas Council and its member companies, we congratulate Mr. Zeldin on his confirmation and look forward to working with him,” said Patrick Serfass, director of the ABC. “Our industry is excited to assist the EPA in carrying out the President’s energy agenda.  The biogas industry provides clean, homegrown renewable energy to help achieve the goals put forward by the Administration. We are excited to work with Mr. Zeldin to promote policies that enhance economic opportunities in rural America and lower costs for consumers, while producing reliable, baseload renewable energy.”