EPA’s Proposed Rule is a Trick, Not a Treat

Today, Iowa Corn Growers Association (ICGA) President Jim Greif testified at the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) hearing on the supplemental proposal to the 2020 Renewable Volume Obligation (RVO) rulemaking in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

 In this proposed rule, the EPA did not implement details that were discussed and outlined by President Trump only eleven days before the rule was released. Farmers and ethanol producers were promised the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) would be upheld by reallocating small refinery exemptions based on an average of actual waived gallons from the three previous compliance years. This proposed rule falls short of the RFS statute that provides for 15 billion gallons of ethanol to be blended. The EPA’s rule would use the Department of Energy (DOE) recommendations which the EPA has historically not followed.

“The language in this proposal is a trick, not a treat,” said ICGA President and farmer from Monticello Jim Greif. “By following DOE suggestions, rather than actual numbers, farmers may only get back half of the demand destruction that EPA actually grants in future years. This means 580 million gallons of biofuel demand will be waived annually that is completely unaccounted for – roughly eliminating the ethanol production capacity of the entire state of Wisconsin. In corn numbers, this means 203 million bushels of corn demand will continue to be eliminated annually – that’s like eliminating all of the corn acres in the entire state of Colorado.”

Quite simply, this proposal destroys corn demand and does not uphold the integrity of the RFS or follow the law. ICGA is urging members to submit a comment through their Call to Action on EPA’s proposed rule before the Nov. 29 comment period deadline.

Click here to access Greif’s full testimony.

For More Information:

Brandi Snyder, Public Relations Manager, bsnyder@iowacorn.org, 515-225-9242