Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) led a group of 50 legislators on Friday who requested an increase in the amount of biodiesel fuels allowed to enter the market under the 2014 Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS).
A proposal under consideration by the EPA could lead to a 1.28 billion gallon cap on standard biodiesel fuels that are produced from domestic, renewable resources. Opponents of the plan worry that such a cap would force the United States to import more fossil fuels from other countries.
Kinzinger and the other legislators said in a letter to President Obama that failing to increase the volume of biodiesel above 1.28 billion gallons would have a “terrible” impact on the domestic biodiesel industry and could lead to biodiesel plant closures.
“We are also concerned the administration may raise the advanced biofuels levels under the RFS with the intention of allowing biodiesel to fill that requirement,” the legislators said. “Our understanding of such a move is that it would lead to no additional domestic production of biodiesel, and would in fact lead to increased imports of foreign fuels to supplement the advanced biofuels level. Rather than sending a signal for increased imports of foreign biofuels, which will seriously undermine the very rationale for the creation of the RFS in supporting domestic energy security, we should be putting forward plans that support our domestic fuel suppliers.”
In 2012, the EPA estimated the domestic biodiesel industry was capable of generating 2.4 billion gallons of approved biodiesel annually. The legislators said the industry requires a new approach.
“Therefore, we believe now is not the time for a critical shift in biodiesel policy,” the legislators said. “We urgently ask that (the president) raise biodiesel’s (renewable volume obligations) for 2014 above 1.28 billion gallons.”