The White House is considering a plan to clear a backlog of over 160 requests for “hardship” waivers from the Renewable Fuels Standard, Reuters reported on Friday. It reported that the administration is considering approving many of the 19 pending requests from 2024, while soliciting industry input on how to address older requests, some of which date back several years.
Reuters reported that to minimize the impact, the White House might stagger its decisions, while also requiring larger refineries to compensate for the ethanol demand lost through waivers to small refineries. While one would guess that large refineries wouldn’t be thrilled with that aspect of the plan, given the push to cut off the growth of Electric Vehicles (see page 12), refiners are still likely in a better position long-term than they were during the Biden Administration.
