The Renewable Fuels Association today thanked a bipartisan group of 16 senators, led by Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), who today urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to put forward strong renewable volume obligations (RVOs) for the 2026 compliance year and beyond.
“These senators understand the importance of lower-cost, American-made renewable fuels to both the farm economy and drivers across the country,” said RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper. “We thank Sens. Grassley and Klobuchar, and their colleagues, for urging EPA to swiftly finalize strong Renewable Fuel Standard volumes to support American energy independence and economic strength.”
RFA and other renewable fuel proponents are calling on EPA to establish conventional renewable fuel requirements of at least 15 billion gallons for 2026 and beyond, along with higher RVOs for advanced biofuels.
“We have seen the cost to rural communities when RVO levels are set too low,” the senators wrote. “Biofuels are a large economic driver for rural America as farmers’ crops are used for feedstocks and many production facilities are located in small communities. That is at risk if RVO standards are set too low.”
Notably, the senators told EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin that, “should EPA grant any small refinery exemptions, the gallons that would have been obligated to those refiners should be added back into the total number of required gallons, as intended by the structure of the RFS, so that the full volume of the RVOs is accounted for and the overall RVOs are not effectively reduced after the rule is finalized.”
Also signing the letter were Sens. Joni Ernst (R-IA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Roger Marshall (R-IA), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Tina Smith (R-MN) , Tammy Duckworth (R-IL), Gary Peters (D-MI), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Mike Rounds (R-SD), and Josh Hawley (R-MO).
