A Federal Appeals Court has found in favor of a small West Virginia refiner who was denied a waiver under the Renewable Fuel Standard by the Environmental Protection Agency. Justices ruled the EPA must take a second look at the exemption rejection for Ergon- West Virginia. Nebraska Ethanol Board Administrator Todd Sneller says it remains to be seen what impact that ruling will have on the large number of waivers granted to refiners.
He says those waivers have damaged the RFS and demand for biofuels and that needs to be addressed.
Sneller says the Governors of two of the largest ethanol producing states, Iowa and Nebraska have invited interim EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler to come to the Midwest tomeet with them in hopes of fixing the waiver problem.
The recent court decision involving Ergon-West Virginia could force the EPA to grant more retroactive small refiner exemptions denied in past years.
