RFA urges EPA to reject waiver petitions
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry and Alabama Governor Kay Ivey submitted joint petitions asking Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin to waive federal blending obligations. The governors claimed the mandate harms Gulf Coast refineries and retail drivers. The Renewable Fuels Association urged the EPA to reject the waiver petitions immediately. RFA Senior Vice President Troy Bredenkamp said in a statement reported by AgroLatam that wholesale ethanol costs approximately $1 per gallon less than wholesale gasoline and disputed the governors’ argument. RFA Senior Vice President Troy Bredenkamp pointed out that blending cheaper ethanol into motor fuel lowers retail pump prices for consumers rather than increasing them; the farm lobby warned that waiving blending targets would depress corn and soybean demand across farm states.
The Renewable Fuel Standard requires refiners to blend set volumes of renewable fuels each year. The EPA faces a statutory deadline to set final blending volumes for the 2027 compliance year; political pressure is mounting on Administrator Zeldin from congressional delegations on both sides of the issue. Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA administrator may grant waivers only if blending requirements cause severe economic harm to an entire region; farm groups note that legal standard has rarely been met in past administrative challenges.
Corn grower associations in Iowa, Illinois, and Nebraska announced they will file formal comments opposing the Louisiana and Alabama waiver requests. Refining trade groups countered that merchant refiners face volatile compliance credit prices under the federal program and urged the administration to provide regulatory relief before the 2027 blending cycle begins. The EPA is expected to open a 30-day public comment period on the waiver petitions before issuing a final determination.
