{
  "id": "RS22870",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RS22870",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 429553,
      "date": "2014-04-07",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-06T23:03:32.254868",
      "title": "Waiver Authority Under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS)",
      "summary": "Transportation fuels are required by federal law to contain a minimum amount of renewable fuel each year. The renewable fuel standard (RFS), established by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct, P.L. 109-58) and amended by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA, P.L. 110-140), required that a total of 16.55 billion gallons of renewable fuels be used to offset gasoline and diesel fuel in 2013. Under EISA, the scheduled mandates grow each year (to 36 billion gallons in 2022). However, the ability of fuel suppliers to meet the growing RFS mandates has been questioned. For 2014, instead of a total of 18.15 billion gallons scheduled in EISA, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed using waiver authority within the statute to lower the mandate to 15.21 billion gallons. Within the overall RFS there are sub-mandates (or carveouts) for advanced and cellulosic biofuels. EPA has proposed lowering these as well.\nMost of the overall RFS mandate (84% for 2013) is currently met using corn-based ethanol. The vast majority of the ethanol supplied to meet the RFS is blended into gasoline at the 10% level (E10). However, there is a limit to the amount of ethanol that can be blended into gasoline at this level, and other options for supplying ethanol (e.g., higher-level ethanol blends such as E15 and E85) are currently constrained because of infrastructure and other impediments. In prior years this had not been a problem because the volume of biofuels needed to meet the RFS mandate was below the maximum amount of ethanol that could be supplied as E10; but stakeholders were especially concerned about the possibility of facing the blend wall in either 2013 or 2014.\nThe Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has the authority to waive the RFS requirements, in whole or in part, if certain conditions outlined in the law are present. Under EISA the overall RFS is scheduled to grow to 18.15 billion gallons in 2014. In November 2013 EPA proposed using its general authority to lower the RFS mandates in cases of inadequate supply. In this case, they interpreted inadequate supply to include an inability to deliver the necessary biofuels to consumers, even if there is sufficient production of said biofuels. Gasoline and diesel fuel suppliers and other stakeholders have generally been supportive of EPAs proposal, while biofuel producers and corn growers believe that EPA is overstepping its authority.\nQuestions have also been raised over whether the overall mandate diverts enough corn supply from food/feed production to dramatically raise prices in those markets, and whether there is enough feedstock supply and production capacity to meet the carveouts for fuels other than corn ethanol. In 2008 the governor of Texas requested a waiver of the RFS because of high grain prices, although that waiver request was denied because EPA determined that the RFS requirements alone did not severely harm the economy of a State, a region, or the United States, a standard required by the statute. A similar waiver petition was filed by the governors of several states in August 2012. That petition was denied for similar reasons.\nIn February 2010, as part of a final rulemaking implementing the RFS as expanded by EISA, EPA waived most of the 2010 cellulosic biofuel carveoutas they have in each subsequent year. In cases where EPA projects inadequate production of cellulosic biofuels to meet the schedule in EISA, the agency must lower the mandate to the projected level, although EPAs process for doing so has been controversial, and the agencys 2012 cellulosic mandate was remanded by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. EPA ultimately revised the 2012 standard to zero. \nThis report discusses the process and criteria for EPA to waive various portions of the RFS.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
      "formats": [
        {
          "format": "HTML",
          "encoding": "utf-8",
          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/RS22870",
          "sha1": "7da3740e2b55d71c344254a8a071b3548fb28aef",
          "filename": "files/20140407_RS22870_7da3740e2b55d71c344254a8a071b3548fb28aef.html",
          "images": null
        },
        {
          "format": "PDF",
          "encoding": null,
          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RS22870",
          "sha1": "1926667bd54ce986828facc12899b03a78ca2e0a",
          "filename": "files/20140407_RS22870_1926667bd54ce986828facc12899b03a78ca2e0a.pdf",
          "images": null
        }
      ],
      "topics": []
    },
    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc276939/",
      "id": "RS22870_2014Jan21",
      "date": "2014-01-21",
      "retrieved": "2014-03-05T18:18:19",
      "title": "Waiver Authority Under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS)",
      "summary": "This report provides a brief overview of the renewable fuel standard (RFS) program and discusses the process and criteria for EPA to approve a waiver petition. Transportation fuels are required by federal law to contain a minimum amount of renewable fuel each year. The RFS, established by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct, P.L. 109-58) and amended by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA, P.L. 110-140), requires that 15.2 billion gallons of renewable fuels be blended into gasoline and other transportation fuels in 2012.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORT",
      "active": false,
      "formats": [
        {
          "format": "PDF",
          "filename": "files/20140121_RS22870_73564b10f64aa220c6386d14cbbff18d96a4094e.pdf"
        },
        {
          "format": "HTML",
          "filename": "files/20140121_RS22870_73564b10f64aa220c6386d14cbbff18d96a4094e.html"
        }
      ],
      "topics": [
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Transportation",
          "name": "Transportation"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Fuel",
          "name": "Fuel"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Energy",
          "name": "Energy"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc122348/",
      "id": "RS22870_2012Sep25",
      "date": "2012-09-25",
      "retrieved": "2012-11-30T09:28:34",
      "title": "Waiver Authority Under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS)",
      "summary": "This report provides a brief overview of the renewable fuel standard (RFS) program and discusses the process and criteria for EPA to approve a waiver petition. Transportation fuels are required by federal law to contain a minimum amount of renewable fuel each year. The RFS, established by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct, P.L. 109-58) and amended by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA, P.L. 110-140), requires that 15.2 billion gallons of renewable fuels be blended into gasoline and other transportation fuels in 2012.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORT",
      "active": false,
      "formats": [
        {
          "format": "PDF",
          "filename": "files/20120925_RS22870_1ea6e75ef402761ef0ec5ee45e43c991b89dcbf2.pdf"
        },
        {
          "format": "HTML",
          "filename": "files/20120925_RS22870_1ea6e75ef402761ef0ec5ee45e43c991b89dcbf2.html"
        }
      ],
      "topics": [
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Transportation",
          "name": "Transportation"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Fuel",
          "name": "Fuel"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Energy",
          "name": "Energy"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc491463/",
      "id": "RS22870_2010Aug20",
      "date": "2010-08-20",
      "retrieved": "2015-01-27T19:40:46",
      "title": "Waiver Authority Under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS)",
      "summary": "This report provides a brief overview of the renewable fuel standard (RFS) program and discusses the process and criteria for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to approve a waiver petition. The RFS program required that renewable fuels be blended into gasoline and other transportation fuels.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORT",
      "active": false,
      "formats": [
        {
          "format": "PDF",
          "filename": "files/20100820_RS22870_736ddea70a9660ff4d254935a59d066581f89164.pdf"
        },
        {
          "format": "HTML",
          "filename": "files/20100820_RS22870_736ddea70a9660ff4d254935a59d066581f89164.html"
        }
      ],
      "topics": [
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Transportation",
          "name": "Transportation"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Fuel",
          "name": "Fuel"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Energy",
          "name": "Energy"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc817453/",
      "id": "RS22870_2008May05",
      "date": "2008-05-05",
      "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26",
      "title": "Waiver Authority Under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS)",
      "summary": null,
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORT",
      "active": false,
      "formats": [
        {
          "format": "PDF",
          "filename": "files/20080505_RS22870_0809b15a5b6bfb01ba66968346567301dc2e36a8.pdf"
        },
        {
          "format": "HTML",
          "filename": "files/20080505_RS22870_0809b15a5b6bfb01ba66968346567301dc2e36a8.html"
        }
      ],
      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Energy Policy"
  ]
}