Tuesday Senators Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota introduced bipartisan legislation to prohibit the EPA from reducing the minimum biofuels blending mandates once the RVO levels are finalized for any given year. Grassley says the Defend the Blend Act would prevent the EPA from retroactively reducing 2020 or future finalized RVO levels. This week Grassley spoke with EPA Administrator Michael Regan regarding EPA’s attempt to retroactively lower 2020 blending levels in the recent RVO proposals.

He says EPA did not account for the self-correcting mechanism in the Renewable Fuels Standard when they lowered the 2020 volumes.

Grassley told Regan EPA’s action will further erode the integrity of the RFS, but the Defend the Blend Act would undo that harm and prevent it in the future.

The bill is cosponsored by Sens. Joni Ernst of Iowa and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois.