Governors' Biofuels Coalition

 It’s going to be a tight squeeze if the Trump administration intends to meet the annual deadline to issue the Renewable Fuel Standard mandates, but most observers still believe it can be done by the Nov. 30 deadline, Pro’s Eric Wolff reports. “EPA has repeatedly committed to the timely promulgation of the rules implementing the RFS, and I have every expectation they will meet the statutory requirement,” said Bob Dinneen, CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, an ethanol producers group.

To get its final 2018 biofuel-volumes rule out on time, EPA would likely have to issue a proposed rule by late May but OMB hasn’t yet received anything to review, making that time frame unlikely. Ethanol and oil refining sources tell Eric they’ve been told the proposed rule could slip to early June, which they believe still allows EPA to issue the final Renewable Volume Obligations in time to meet the deadline. The RFS rule would also seem to be a test of Trump’s two-for-one deregulatory executive order, though there’s some thought it falls under an exception under OMB guidance. It’s worth remembering that the Obama EPA missed the annual deadlines regularly, though it did issue last year’s rule on time.