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2-17-17 - Press Release - Study: Large Retailers' Margins Double Due To EPA Rule

Houston, TX – A new study undertaken for small retailers demonstrates that large-fuel retailers like Flying J and Loves realize nearly double the profit margins of average convenience store levels by taking advantage of windfall profits by trading in the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) renewable identification number (“RIN”) market. The study was authored by biofuels expert Ramon Benavides, who has significant industry experience in the manufacturing of renewable fuels and a strong 23-year background in operational compliance with regard to OSHA and EPA rules.

To read the full press release, click here.

10-27-16 - The Wall Street Journal - Big Oil Companies Reap Windfall From Ethanol Rules

Environmental regulations designed to boost the amount of ethanol blended into the U.S. gasoline supply have inadvertently become a multibillion-dollar windfall for some of the world’s biggest oil companies….

For other companies, especially smaller refiners, the rules have had the opposite effect, forcing them to spend hundreds of millions to buy credits to comply.

Excerpted from The Wall Street Journal.  Read the full article here.

10-3-16 - Convenience Store News - Commentary: Small Retailers Penalized by Renewable Fuels Mess

But over the last few years, our government has changed all that. The trigger was a federal renewable fuels mandate called the Renewable Fuel Standard or “RFS” — an effort to lower imports, increase U.S. energy security, and reduce greenhouse gases by requiring that a set amount of renewable fuels be blended into gasoline and diesel every year. Each year, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) raises the target: In 2010, it was about 13 billion gallons; in 2016, it is up to 18.1 billion gallons; next year, it will go higher still.

Excerpted from Convenience Store News.  To read the full article, click here.

8-23-16 - Press Release - New Study from Small Retailers Coalition Says Renewable Fuel Standard Harming Small Fuel Retailers RFS flaw threatens jobs, raises costs

Dallas, TX – A new study from Southern Methodist University’s Maguire Energy Institute says the structure of EPA’s much-criticized Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) program has created an unfair playing field for small retailers.  Instead of promoting increased biofuel production and competition, the program allows big gasoline retailers to reap huge profits and push out small fuel retailers who have historically formed the backbone of the consumer fuel market.  The study, released on behalf of the Small Retailers Coalition, is entitled “Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) Trading Under the Renewable Fuels Program: Unintended Consequences For Small Retailers.”

To read the full press release, click here.

8-1-16 - Reuters - EPA should change biofuels program to help small fuel retailers: letter

U.S. regulators should alter a much-debated biofuels program that disadvantages small fuel retailers, said the chairman of a newly-formed coalition, joining the likes of refiners including Valero Energy Corp, which have made a similar push.

The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) gives an unfair advantage to large petroleum retailers and sidelines smaller ones, Bill Douglass, the founder of Texas-based Douglass Distributing and Chairman of the Small Retailers Coalition, said in a letter to Janet McCabe, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) acting assistant administrator for air and radiation.

Excerpted from Reuters. To read the full article, click here.

2-12-16 - Law360 - Valero Energy sues EPA over renewable fuel rules

Valero Energy Corp. on Friday mounted a legal challenge to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Renewable Fuel Standard, asking the D.C. Circuit compel the regulator to revise a policy designed to increase the use of biofuels.

The U.S. refining giant lodged a petition with the circuit court asking for a review of the EPA’s RFS program for 2014-2016, and the requirements for biomass-based diesel for 2017. In a separate petition, it sought a review of renewable fuel policies for prior years as well. It also made a request directly to the EPA.

Valero is seeking a change in the EPA’s definition of who is an “obligated party” that must meet renewable fuel volume requirements. The company said the EPA should redefine obligated party as the entity that holds title to the fuel immediately prior to the transfer from a terminal to a retail outlet, wholesaler or customer.

Excerpted from Law360. To read the full article, click here (subscription required).

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