The National Biodiesel Board launched an ad campaign highlighting the economic damage to biodiesel and renewable diesel producers from the Environmental Protection Agency's small refinery exemptions. The ads are scheduled to run for one week in Des Moines, IA, and in Washington, DC.
"The president's EPA is hurting farmers and eliminating jobs by giving special favors to big oil companies," the ad states. "The EPA's big oil bailout is destroying demand for biodiesel."
Kurt Kovarik, NBB's Vice President of Federal Affairs, added, "Just last month, President Trump vowed that his administration would defend America's farmers. Yet his EPA is preparing another flood of RFS exemptions that will harm farmers. The biodiesel industry does not benefit from approval of year-round E15 sales. While that approval was long overdue, it can't make up for the damage from small refinery exemptions."
An estimate from University of Illinois Professor Scott Irwin says the demand destruction could reach 2.45 billion gallons over the next few years causing a $7.7 billion economic loss for the biodiesel industry.
Under the RFS, an oil refinery that processes up to 75,000 barrels of oil per day can qualify for a small refinery exemption. The RFS advanced biofuel obligation for a refinery that size would be as much as 20 million gallons of renewable fuels and primarily would be met with biomass-based diesel.