Undermining Trump
Source: By John Siciliano and Josh Siege, Washington Examiner • Posted: Friday, April 20, 2018
“We are writing to you regarding the actions the Environmental Protection Agency has taken to undermine commitments President Trump made on the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) to our constituents,” according to a letter led by Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and signed by 11 other lawmakers.
The senators are giving Pruitt until the end of the month to hand over all information related to the refinery deals, which have been described as being handled in the “shadows.”
EPA COUNTERS THAT NOT GRANTING THE WAIVERS WOULD BE ILLEGAL: “Discontinuing the issuance of small refinery hardship waivers would be a violation of the Renewable Fuel Standard,” EPA spokeswoman Liz Bowman said in a statement to John on Wednesday.
“EPA doesn’t have the authority to pick and choose which provisions of the RFS to follow,” she said.
“The agency has been both responsive and open about small refinery waivers, while being careful not to violate confidential business information protections.”
The senators and the ethanol industry argue that oil giants such as Exxon Mobil and Chevron, which recently petitioned for waivers, are not eligible for small refinery “hardship” waivers, even though they may own small refineries.