Sen.Capito, Others Call 2021 RVO Expansion Drag on Economy


   
   OAKHURST, N.J. (DTN) --- U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., a 
member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, along with over a 
dozen other senators on Wednesday called on Environmental Protection Agency 
Administrator Andrew Wheeler to not increase the Renewable Volume Obligation 
for 2021, citing the collapse in fuels demand as a result of COVID-19.

   In a letter to the EPA Administrator, the senators asked that he use his 
statutory authorities under the Clean Air Act to cite "severe economic harm" 
and employ a general waiver not to increase the RVO under the Renewable Fuel 
Standard for 2021. Given that COVID-19 has suppressed demand for gasoline, 
diesel and jet fuel, any increase in the mandate would cause severe and 
outsized economic harm next year by raising costs for consumers, particularly 
at the gas pump. Additionally, the letter urges the EPA not to reallocate prior 
year obligations that would increase burdens on refiners of all sizes, 
including small refiners.

   "Any increase in blending volumes mandated under the RFS, especially an 
expansion of the 2021 RVO, would ultimately impact American consumers forced to 
bear the associated costs, creating another drag on a national economy that is 
in a state of fragile recovery from the depths of the pandemic. It is essential 
that you use all available statutory authorities to see to it that these 
unnecessary impacts are avoided," the senators wrote.




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