NATSO Hails Proposed RFS Obligations
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Trump Administration’s proposed renewable volume obligations under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) will support continued growth in the advanced biofuels market, NATSO says.
“We thank EPA and the entire administration for hearing and responding to the retail fuel industry’s concerns and proposing ambitious yet achievable renewable fuel obligations. If the United States can continue down this path, while fostering an environment of certainty and transparency, the RFS will continue to function as Congress intended by incentivizing renewable fuel blending while lowering fuel prices for consumers,” NATSO President and CEO Lisa Mullings said in a June 26 statement.
The association has testified before Congress that the RFS has largely succeeded because it allows fuel retailers to offer biofuel blends to consumers at a price that is less expensive than purely petroleum-based products. The RFS is designed to enable fuel marketers to lower consumer prices at the pump by blending more renewable fuels into their fuel supply, says the association, which represents truckstops and travel plazas and is based in Alexandria, Va.
Annual renewable fuel volume obligations can create market certainty and encourage fuel retailers to invest in the infrastructure necessary to incorporate and sell biofuels, the association says. The U.S. biodiesel and renewable diesel market has grown from roughly 100 million gallons in 2005 to nearly 2.6 billion gallons in 2017, the association says.
To further provide certainty for retailers and value to consumers, NATSO and other associations representing the biodiesel supply chain recently announced that they are now united in their desire to see Congress extend the $1 per gallon biodiesel blender’s tax credit. “The biodiesel tax credit has historically worked in conjunction with the RFS to incentivize growth in the biodiesel industry and lower retail diesel prices, which in turn lowers the prices for all goods that are shipped by truck. NATSO urges Congress to build on the momentum that EPA initiated today by passing a long-term extension of the biodiesel tax credit,” Mullings said in the statement.
