Comment period on EPA’s 2018 RFS proposal closes Aug. 31

Those who wish to file written comments on the U.S. EPA’s proposed rule to set 2018 volume requirements under the Renewable Fuel Standard have until midnight on Aug. 31 to do so.

EPA published the proposed rule in the Federal Register on July 21, officially opening the comment period. A prepublication version of the proposed rule was first released July 5. 

The rulemaking sets 2018 renewable volume standards (RVOs) under the RFS, along with the 2019 RVO for biomass-based diesel. Overall, the proposed RVOs require approximately 19.24 billion gallons of renewable fuels in 2018.

The proposal calls for 19.24 billion gallons of total renewable fuel, including 238 million gallons of cellulosic biofuel, 2.1 billion gallons of biomass-based diesel and 4.24 billion gallons of advanced biofuel. The 2.1 billion gallon biomass-based diesel requirement for 2018 was finalized last year. For 2019, the new proposal calls for the biomass-based diesel RVO to be maintained at 2.1 billion gallons.

When compared to the final RVO for 2017, the requirement for total renewable fuel drops slightly from 19.28 billion gallons to the proposed 19.24 billion gallons. The cellulosic RVO has also been lowered, from 311 million gallons in 2017 to a proposed 238 million gallons in 2018, with the advanced biofuel requirement dropping from 4.28 billion gallons in 2017 to a proposed 4.24 billion gallons in 2018. The final RVO for biomass-based diesel in 2017 was set at 2 billion gallons.

Written comments can be submitted online at www.regulations.gov under Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2017-0091. To date, more than 30,000 comments have already been filed.