A coalition of 6 renewable fuel and agricultural trade groups have filed a petition with the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. They’re challenging the process by which the Environmental Protection Agency exempted certain unknown small refineries from their respective Renewable Fuel Standard obligations for 2018. National Farmers Union’s biofuels advisor Anne Steckel says they’re insisting the EPA reallocate the lost biofuel gallons that resulted due to granting of the small refiner waivers.

She says EPA documentation shows the agency didn’t reveal any details on why the waivers were granted and did not address whether any of the small refineries were eligible to receive exemptions. Steckel says the EPA also did not include an analysis of disproportionate economic hardship exemptions.

Steckel says the just released EPA RFS SRE rule doesn’t come close to making up for those lost biofuel volumes or following the RFS as the law intends.

The coalition includes the National Farmers Union, American Coalition for Ethanol, Growth Energy, the Renewable Fuels Association, National Biodiesel Board and National Corn Growers Association.