BIO comments on EPA delays on renewable fuel standards

Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) issued comments today on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed consent decree that would resolve oil industry lawsuits over delays in finalizing the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) regulations.

“BIO is supportive of EPA’s commitments contained in the proposed consent decree, which would establish definitive deadlines this year for EPA to take final action on the 2014 RFS rule and proposed and final action on the 2015 RFS rule,” BIO’s Executive Vice President for Industrial & Environmental Section Brent Erikson said. “EPA should withdraw its proposed 2014 RFS rule and reissue it by June 1, 2015, to include advanced and total renewable biofuel volumes that are consistent with the RFS statute.”

BIO also recently released an analysis of the market that suggests the EPA’s delays on the RFS have “chilled” up to $13.7 billion in investments that the biofuel industry could have used to meet the regulation’s goals and may also have cost 80,000 jobs.

“Just as the cellulosic and advanced biofuel producers began to successfully commercialize new technologies, EPA rulemaking delays generated instability in the RFS program and intolerable investment uncertainty,” Erikson said.