The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) is actively engaging the Environmental Protection Agency on the Renewable Fuel Standard, seeking final volumes and the reallocation of waived gallons to prevent demand destruction for ethanol producers and farmers.
“EPA released their volumes for 2026 and 2027 this year. So, ACE and others have been participating in that rulemaking process, and one of the things is that there’s a Small Refinery Exemption Program with the RFS, and the EPA this year proposed to reallocate gallons that they’ve been waiving for the small refinery exemption. So, we need those gallons reallocated, so demand destruction doesn’t happen, and we keep those renewable volumes whole. And so, we’re still waiting for the EPA here to finalize that rulemaking and give our farmers and biofuel producers some clarity here, and then they need to reallocate those gallons and follow through on what they propose by 100 percent reallocation.”
Katie Muckenhirn, vice president of public affairs for the American Coalition for Ethanol, says requiring fuel processors to blend in biofuels has always been a point of contention.
“That’s been a struggle throughout the years, and what the EPA has said, and what we know to be true, is that refineries can recover the costs of biofuel through the RINs. And so, yeah, there’s a cost to comply, but then they recover those costs through a RIN value, so the struggle is the play over market share.”
ACE is also pushing Congress to pass the Nationwide Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act to secure year-round E15 access across all states, which is vital for utilizing the nation’s record corn crop.
“Absolutely, those eight Midwest states do have E15 year-round, but we need it nationwide, and there is bipartisan, bicameral legislation in Congress, the Nationwide Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act, led by Nebraska Senator Deb Fisher. And we need that legislation to be passed to ensure that all states can sell E15 nationwide without waiting on those summer waivers that we’ve had to do for the last four summers. So, you know, the time is ripe for that, even more than ever now, with farmers having a record corn crop coming in. We need outlets. We need markets.”
Additionally, the industry is focused on realizing the immense market potential of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), especially with the extension of the Clean Fuel Production Tax Credit (45Z).