Ethanol Blog

LINCOLN, Neb. (DTN) – The Biden administration reportedly is set to drop the electric-vehicle proposal in the latest multi-year Renewable Fuel Standard rule currently under review by the White House, according to reports from two national media outlets in recent weeks.

The proposal would have allowed electric-vehicle producers to claim renewable identification numbers, or RINs, if they use electricity produced using biomass to operate the vehicles.

News reports from Reuters and Bloomberg in May seem to indicate the administration is set to either delay or drop the eRINs proposal altogether.

In April, 28 Republican members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee told EPA Administrator Michael Regan in a letter that there are significant problems with the agency's approach to eRINs, https://www.dtnpf.com/….

The lawmakers tell Regan the Clean Air Act does not specify that electric vehicles can generate the biofuels credits.

Bloomberg reported on May 19 that the Biden administration has dropped the proposal completely. A May 1 Reuters story, however, reported the administration was considering delaying the proposal.

In comments to the EPA during a public comment period on the RFS rule that includes volumes for 2023, 2024 and 2025, ethanol industry officials have raised a number of concerns about the eRINs proposal. Most notably, ethanol groups and others have questioned whether EPA is accurately calculating the carbon footprint of electric vehicles.

The EPA sent the final RFS proposal to the Office of Management and Budget for final review on May 15.

Todd Neeley can be reached at todd.neeley@dtn.com

Follow him on Twitter @DTNeeley

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