Oct. 11, 2013—American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) filed a lawsuit Thursday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2013 renewable fuel standard.
AFPM has taken issue with the EPA’s reliance on data that was not available to the public, its “secret methods” for setting cellulosic biofuel requirements and its tendency to “overestimate the amount of cellulosic fuel that will be produced,” according to a statement.
AFPM has also asked the courts to force the EPA to abide by its deadlines, which it has ignored, the AFMP says, limiting refiners’ ability to comply with the law.
“The agency has repeatedly disregarded the timelines established in the Clean Air Act to finalize standards prior to the beginning of the compliance year. This retroactive rulemaking harms refiners and must stop,” said AFPM general counsel Rich Moskowitz.
AFPM has also petitioned the EPA to waive the cellulosic biofuel requirement based on the shortfall in the amount of cellulosic biofuel produced in 2013.
“EPA continues to ignore the admonition of the D.C. Circuit to establish realistic, not aspirational biofuel standards. The agency’s reliance on statements made by biofuel producers with an interest in creating a large government mandate for their product has not worked and will not work,” said Moskowitz.
