IRFA Applauds EPA Proposal to Reallocate 100% of Additional RFS Refinery Exemptions

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Emily Freese

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IRFA Executive Director Monte Shaw Testifies at EPA Public Hearing in Support of Full Reallocation into 2026 and 2027

WEST DES MOINES, IA - Today, Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) Executive Director Monte Shaw testified at a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) public hearing on the agency's proposed rule to reallocate additional 2025 Refinery Exemptions (SREs) under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).

IRFA supports EPA's proposal to reallocate 100% of the volumes exempted through additional SREs into the 2026 and 2027 compliance years. Full reallocation ensures that exempted gallons do not reduce the overall renewable fuel blending obligations, helping protect demand for biofuels and uphold the integrity of the RFS.

In remarks at the hearing, IRFA Executive Director Monte Shaw stated:

"I want to start by thanking the EPA for proposing the full reallocation of the unexpected, additional SREs that were recently granted. It is difficult for us to understand, at a time of record profits in the petroleum industry, how companies can claim economic hardship and receive a nearly record number of SREs for 2025.

"I would simply ask that the EPA review Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird's letter documenting the discrepancies between what some of these companies are telling the EPA and the Department of Energy (DOE) versus what they are reporting to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and their shareholders. We are not aware of any response to that detailed documentation. We believe there needs to be a change to the SRE system, and that is something the EPA can address even as we hope Congress takes action as well.

"We support full reallocation, with 50% of the SRE volumes allocated to 2026 and the remaining 50% allocated to 2027. It is important to note that under the RFS, any obligated party can roll forward up to 100% of its obligation into the following year. So, if the EPA were to put all of these volumes into 2027, they could simply be carried into 2028. We believe it is very important that some of these volumes be allocated to 2026 and some to 2027.

"When the RFS blending levels were set earlier this year, we had plants in Iowa that were shut down and employees who were laid off. Today, those plants are running and running at full capacity. The robust RFS that the Trump Administration and EPA established earlier this year has done what it was intended to do. We do not want to see that progress reversed."

Maintaining renewable fuel obligations for 2026 and 2027 is important to providing market certainty for renewable fuels producers, supporting Iowa farmers and strengthening the rural communities that depend on a strong domestic biofuels industry.

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The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association represents the state's liquid renewable fuels industry and works to foster its growth. Iowa is the nation's leader in renewable fuels production with 42 ethanol refineries capable of producing over 5 billion gallons annually - including 34 million gallons of annual cellulosic ethanol production capacity - and 8 biodiesel facilities with the capacity to produce 408 million gallons annually. For more information, visit the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association website at: www.IowaRFA.org .