Biden Should Bolster Biofuel Standards, Certainty for Farmers as Admin Prepares to Set Future Blend Requirements

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), a member of both the Senate Agriculture Committee and the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, is pushing President Biden to bolster biofuel standards and increase certainty for American farmers and producers as his administration prepares to set the future blend requirements through 2024.

As the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approaches the Renewable Fuel Obligations (RVOs) for 2023 and 2024, Ernst joined a bipartisan push led by Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) for the administration to use the upcoming proposed rule to increase volumes of biomass-based diesel.

In a letter to EPA Administrator Regan, Ernst and her colleagues write: “Farmers and biofuel producers are an essential part of the solution to the nation’s economic, environmental, and energy security challenges. They deserve certainty in this policy. A multiyear rule would provide the predictability and market signals that the biomass-based diesel industry needs to grow.”

They go on: “Biofuels are poised to play an essential role in a sustainable, homegrown energy future. With the increased use of biomass-based diesel, we can advance efforts to diversify our nation’s fuel supply while creating and sustaining jobs, strengthening local economies, generating tax revenues, and improving energy security. We urge you to support higher RVOs for biomass-based diesel and advanced biofuels in the upcoming proposal to encourage additional development and use of this fuel.”

Ernst has consistently worked across the aisle to support and promote biofuel, Iowa farmers and producers, and the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Earlier this year, she joined a bipartisan letter urging the Biden administration to maintain the blending requirements for 2022; deny all pending Small Refinery Exemptions (SREs); eliminate proposed retroactive cuts to the RVOs; and to set 2021 RFS volumes at the statutory levels.

To read the senators’ full letter to Administrator Regan, click HERE.

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