U.S. EPA proposes compliance deadline extension for biofuel laws
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday proposed an extension to 2020 and 2021 deadlines for oil refiners to prove compliance with the nation's biofuel blending mandates, the agency said.
The extension could help oil refiners that have slowed or stopped buying credits to prove they have complied with the blending requirements, amassing huge outstanding liabilities in the process. The EPA's move would allow those refiners, such as Monroe Energy and PBF Energy Inc, to spread their debt over a longer period of time.
The short positions, which the refiners built up over the last year, were a bet that President Joe Biden will ultimately side with refiners and their union supporters and roll back the law known as the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), Reuters previously reported.
Under the RFS, oil refiners must blend billions of gallons of biofuels into their fuel mix, or buy compliance credits from those that do. The EPA, which administers the RFS, can grant some refiners exemptions to the law if the refiners prove the obligations are financially harmful.
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