Ethanol Blog

LINCOLN, Neb. (DTN) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has until Jan. 2, 2025, to reject or approve a petition for a small-refinery exemption to the Renewable Fuel Standard filed by Wynnewood Refining Company in December 2023, as part of a Dec. 12, 2024, order from a federal court.

Wynnewood filed a petition with the EPA on Dec. 15, 2023, documenting why the company believed complying with the RFS that year would cause "disproportionate" economic hardship.

According to the original complaint filed by Wynnewood in the U.S. District Court for the District of Southern Texas, the company has filed "multiple petitions" for hardship relief because it "faces structural challenges that cause it to experience disproportionate economic hardship in complying with the RFS."

The EPA was required by law to respond to Wynnewood's petition by March 14, 2024, which was 90 days after the company filed for relief.

"There is no dispute that the EPA violated its statutory obligation to decide plaintiff's hardship petition within 90 days," the court said in its ruling.

The EPA made the case in court that it needs more time to consider "recent case-law developments" before rendering a decision.

"Given that the EPA has had plaintiff's 2023 hardship petition for nearly a year and has failed to act despite plaintiff's repeated pre-litigation requests, the court finds that the EPA's arguments for an extended deadline are unpersuasive," the court said.

Back in October 2024 the EPA filed a voluntary court motion in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to rescind the agency's 2023 denial of 26 small-refinery exemptions.

EPA denied 26 of 28 SRE requests that were remaining in July 2023.

Also that month, the U.S. Supreme Court granted refiners' petition to hear a case that could determine where legal challenges on small-refinery exemptions will be argued, https://www.dtnpf.com/….

In April 2022, the EPA denied 36 SRE requests all from the 2018 RFS compliance year. All but three of those petitioners filed lawsuits on that action.

In June 2022, the agency then denied 69 petitions and all but one of the refining companies petitioned a court for review.

At the end of October 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court granted review in a case filed by refining companies, asking the court to decide in what court SRE cases should be heard.

In August 2019, the Trump administration approved 31 SREs for the 2018 RFS compliance year.

Read more on DTN:

"EPA Motions Court to Withdraw Rejection of 26 Small-Refinery Exemptions in 2023," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

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

Follow him on social platform X @DTNeeley

(c) Copyright 2024 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.