Provisions of Peterson's Renewable Fuel Standard Integrity Act Advance in the House of Representatives

(Washington, D.C.) - Today the House Committee on Energy and Commerce released the text of legislation containing the provisions of Congressman Collin Peterson’s Renewable Fuel Standard Integrity Act. The House is expected to consider H.R. 4447 the week of September 21st.

“In recent years, the Environmental Protection Agency has granted dozens of small refinery exemptions, waiving billions of gallons of biofuel from RFS blending requirements. The Agency granted these harmful waivers with little transparency, concealing details from the public about which refiners are being granted waivers and why. The provisions of my bill will require EPA to pull back the curtain and show the American people how they justify granting these waivers that have greatly impacted profitability for biofuels producers and farmers across the country.”

The provisions included in H.R. 4447, Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act would set an annual deadline for refiners to request exemptions from the Renewable Fuel Standard and require EPA to publicly release the name of refiners requesting a waiver, the number of gallons requested to be waived and the number of gallons of biofuel that will not be blended as a result of the waiver. These provisions mirror the provisions of H.R. 3006, the Renewable Fuel Standard Integrity Act, with adjustments to address business confidentiality concerns that were raised by members of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Congressman Peterson is a co-chair of the Congressional Biofuels Caucus, a bipartisan group of Members of Congress who advocate for homegrown renewable fuel policies that boost farmer incomes and reduce dependence on foreign oil.