The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee is holding a hearing Tuesday on the Trump administration’s use of Small Refinery Exemptions within the Renewable Fuel Standard. House subcommittee chairman Frank Palone of New Jersey says the Trump administration’s abuse of EPA’s waiver authority is undermining the RFS program and devastating the renewable fuels industry. National Corn Growers Association President Kevin Ross shares those concerns and says they’ve been involved with this issue for some time.
He says policy makers are finally taking an in depth look at the waiver issue with this subcommittee hearing and they hope Congress addresses the problem.
Ross says the waiver issue has caused several ethanol plants to shutdown and caused economic damage that’s tough to recover from.
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson welcomes the hearing and says farmers and rural communities rely on the RFS for their economic viability and the actions by the EPA have only provided uncertainty and the potential for economic ruin.
