Market News & Headlines >> EPA Sends RFS Rule to Budget Office

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency submitted its final 2014 rule for the U.S. renewable fuels standard (RFS) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review this past Friday, according to Ethanol Producer Magazine.

The OMB has up to 90 days to review renewable volume obligation (RVO) rule. Industry leaders are optimistic the proposed rule will be modified from the proposal published back on Nov. 15, 2013 that called for lowering the required volumes of both conventional ethanol and advanced biofuels in 2014. That plan generated widespread concern in the ethanol industry and a high volume of comments.

“While we have not seen the rule, we hold strong in our belief that EPA and OMB will fulfill President Obama’s commitment to biofuels as a means of greater energy independence, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and wider availability of cost-saving alternative fuels for American consumers,” Bob Dinneen, president and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, said in a statement. “This decision is about more than targets and gallons, it is about a rationale that places highest importance on the long term strength of this country and not the bottom line of oil companies.”