NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has received 52 new petitions for retroactive biofuel blending waivers that, if granted, would help bring oil refiners into compliance with a court ruling from this year, EPA data showed on Thursday.
The 52 new pending applications for blending exemptions are for compliance years 2011 through 2018. The waivers exempt oil refiners from U.S. laws that require they blend billions of gallons of biofuels into their fuel pool.
In January, the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that waivers granted to small refineries after 2010 had to take the form of an “extension.” The decision called into question the future of the EPA’s exemption program because most of the recipients of waivers in recent years have not continuously received them each year since 2010.
(Reporting by Stephanie Kelly)
