Press

LINCOLN, NEB. – U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, released the following statement after the EPA announced the final Renewable Volume Obligations (RVOs) for 2020 (retroactive), 2021, and 2022.

“It’s always one step forward, three steps back with the Biden Administration and biofuels.

While the 2022 RVOs are significant, retroactively lowering the 2020 RVOs directly undermines these gains and contradicts Biden’s campaign promises. Making matters worse, the administration has decided to postpone small refineries’ compliance with the RFS, which hurts the integrity of the whole system.

Cushioning these bad announcements with the release of long-overdue COVID assistance for producers that was available over a year and a half ago doesn’t change the facts. The President’s actions demonstrate he isn’t committed to supporting rural America or pursuing an all-the-above energy strategy.

Looking to the future, it is imperative that the administration set robust 2023 RVOs in a timely manner. Doing so will ensure the country is leveraging the power of biofuels to lower costs at the pump and provide consumers with needed financial relief,” said Sen. Fischer.

Senator Fischer has taken numerous actions to support biofuel producers, including:

Pushed the Biden administration to agree to allow the temporary sale of E15 year round

Called out the Biden administration’s EPA for trying to let small oil refiners off the hook after failing to comply with the RFS

Joined letter urging the Biden administration to stop delaying critical biofuels assistance

Introduced the Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act to ensure blends higher than E10 can be sold year-round

Introduced the RFS Integrity Act to create transparency and predictability in EPA’s small refinery exemption process and require any exempted gallons to be accounted for in annual RVOs

Joined letter to USDA urging them to use the Commodity Credit Corporation/December 2020 COVID relief bill to provide assistance to the biofuels industry

Led bipartisan letter to EPA urging them to reject requests to waive RFS requirements and support robust RVOs

Joined letter to President Biden urging him to reject calls to undercut RFS by reducing blending requirements and uphold his campaign promises

Joined letter requesting meeting with President Biden about the lack of prioritization of biofuels in the administration’s policies

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