National Biodiesel Board frustrated with court backing EPA on hardship waivers

In Washington, the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) expressed frustration with a Court decision declining to review the Environmental Protection Agency’s refusal to properly account for its flood of retroactive small refinery exemptions. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit dismissed on technical grounds NBB’s petition on the 2018 Renewable Fuel Standard rule.

NBB challenged EPA’s decision to continue ignoring small refinery exemptions granted after the annual rule is established, even though the agency quietly ramped up granting these exemptions as it took comment on the rule. The Court dismissed NBB’s petition on the grounds that the biofuel industry did not comment on the topic and provide EPA sufficient opportunity to address those comments. The Court declined to examine EPA’s flood of small refinery exemptions, but left room for future challenges on the issue.