Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt visited farmers in Iowa today. Pruitt spoke to farmers about the Renewable Fuel Standard at an ?invite-only? meeting at a cattle farm just north of Nevada.
?We met the deadline, November 30. To get those volume obligations out across the country on time is something the agency has not done in a number of years,? Pruitt said.
Pruitt answered questions about the Renewable Fuels Standard, environmental stewardship and deregulation, during his visit. Iowa Secretary of Agriculture attended the Farm Town Hall meeting. Secretary Northey said the agriculture industry appreciates Administrator Pruitt for releasing the renewable volume obligations on time, but hoped to see more aggressive biodiesel numbers.
?You?ve heard the industry and Governor Reynolds say that as well. He repeated, ?I?ve been hearing those numbers need to be higher, and I look forward to more conversations about that. He was very open in listening and certainly allowed everyone to share their full thoughts?and said he wants to come back,? Northey said.
The Iowa visit comes a day after Pruitt released 2018 volume requirements for the Renewable Fuels Standard.
Thursday the EPA finalized a total renewable fuel volume of 19.29 billion gallons including 288 million gallons of cellulosic biofuel. That leaves a 15 billion gallon requirement for conventional renewable fuels like corn ethanol which are consistent with the levels envisioned by Congress.
Executive Director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association Monte Shaw said he wants to give Administrator Pruitt credit for keeping the volume requirement for conventional renewable fuels at 15 billion gallons.
?To be fair, that was not expected. The law says 15 billion gallons. President Trump had promised Iowa to protect the RFS. While I want to say, ?Hey, thank you for not going below that,? they could not move them out. That is kind of where we were. We didn?t backpedal, so that was good.?
The agency set a final rule of 4.29 billion gallons of advanced biofuels for 2018 and 2.1 billion gallons of biomass-based diesel again for 2019.
The July proposal recommended only 4.24 billion gallons of advanced biofuels and 2.1 billion gallons of biomass-based diesel. This was a reduction and flatline, respectively, from last year?s standards.
Shaw said he believes the Environmental Protection Agency missed an opportunity to make a difference in the advanced biofuel numbers.
?I could even argue that the 2018 numbers will lead to less biodiesel demand than we had the right to expect, based on the rule last year,? Shaw said. ?It cut cellulosic ethanol by seven percent. An example, we have 12 plants in Iowa, poised and ready to produce cellulosic ethanol from corn kernel fiber. Combined, in a year, they could make about 20 to 30 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol. That?s just the 12 plants in Iowa.?
Pruitt said moving forward, he is excited to welcome potential opportunities within the renewable fuels industry.
?I?m excited about what is happening in the export of ethanol,? Pruitt said. ?We?re exporting at least a billion gallons of ethanol every year. I?m hearing that Mexico is thinking about adopting a statute similar to what we have domestically, and that will further encourage exporting ethanol.?
