The Clean Fuels Alliance, together with farming and feedstock groups, has sent EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin a formal request for the government agency to finally establish Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) volume standards beginning for 2026 and beyond.
The EPA is required by statue to issue the latest RFS standards 14 months prior to the start of the compliance year.
For 2026, that deadline came and went at end of October 2024. Last summer, Clean Fuels announced its intention to sue the EPA, then under the Biden administration, over its failure to finalize those standards.
[Related: Clean Fuels Alliance suing EPA over renewable fuel standard delay]
Lawmakers also urged the EPA three times to issue the 2026 RFS rule:
- July 11 letter from 37 U.S. Representatives
- June 12 letter from 18 U.S. Senators
- April 29 letter from nine trade associations
The Clean Fuels Alliance is the trade association representing the biodiesel, renewable diesel, and aviation fuel industries. The American Farm Bureau Association, American Soybean Association, National Oilseed Processors Association, North American Renderers Association, and the U.S. Canola Association also signed the letter, which specifically requests for the EPA to finalize the 2026 biomass-diesel volume at 5.25 billion gallons.
“We write today to ask that EPA without delay set 2026 RFS standards and adopt a robust step change in biomass-based diesel and advanced biofuel volumes,” the letter states, adding a request for the 2026 biomass-based diesel volume to be 5.25 billion gallons, along with a commensurate increase in the advanced biofuel volume. “Setting these volumes for 2026 and establishing consistent growth for 2027 and beyond based on the industry’s investments and projections will ensure that American consumers can access affordable and clean transportation options. These volumes will support farm security, create jobs and economic opportunity, and further President Trump’s goal for U.S. energy dominance.”
The organizations believe the EPA was off by 1.9 billion gallons with the previous rule.
The letter can be read in its entirety here.
Biodiesel & renewable diesel
Biodiesel and renewable diesel can both be utilized as a power source for commercial trucking, specifically for long-haul, Class 8 rigs. It's also possible to convert existing traditional diesel-powered rigs to biodiesel.
Setting new RFS volume standards is clearly of the utmost urgency, according to industry insiders.
[Related: Renewable diesel and biodiesels: Fleet operators can go green without buying new trucks]
"In mid-2023, the EPA issued a three-year rule but they severely undercounted the severe clamp up of production of renewable diesel so they kind of constrained the market for our fuels," explained Paul Winters, Clean Fuels Alliance director of public affairs and federal communications, to Clean Trucking. "We produce so much advanced biofuel and, at the same time, the EPA overestimated the availability of the RNG side for the industry to grow. Now, they are proposing to retroactively wave the cellulosic biofuel for 2024."
Not only have the EPA's miscalculations delayed the release of the 2026 RNG rule, it still hasn't even proposed the new rules.
"We are encouraging the EPA to be on time because their underestimation of our growth is really constraining the marketplace," Winters continues. "We were hoping a better signal for 2026 would help alleviate some of the market disruption. Policy uncertainty is just a killer for every business out there."
Meanwhile, fleets that rely on bio and renewable diesel are understandably concerned.
"There are huge fleets that depend on bio and renewable diesel because it's a drop-in fuel for them," Winters said. "With RNG, there's the ability to produce a lot of it but not a lot of fleets can utilize it."
Wrongly focusing on exports
Another issue concerning the Clean Fuels Alliance and its partners is the ongoing focus on bio and renewable diesel exports. Simply put, these fuels are needed stateside.
"Our industry still faces challenges distributing the fuels but if [the EPA] keeps focusing on exports and doesn't provide support for this domestic market, this continues to cause the problem of getting the distribution networks built," Winters stressed. "The uncertainty then flows through customers. They don’t know what fuel to buy, which kind of engine to invest in, nor how to cut carbon if they don’t know which fuel is going to be available to them."
[Related: Trucking groups make the case for renewable fuels in California]
Since EPA Administrator Zeldin assumed office in late January, the agency has clearly indicated it has trucking's needs in mind. Examples include reviews of California's emissions waivers and the agency's own Phase 3 GHG regulations on medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, another Biden era rule.
Noting this pro domestic energy policy momentum, Clean Fuels' VP of Federal Affairs, Kurt Kovarik, concluded that the "EPA needs to make a step-change in the RFS volumes for biomass-based diesel and advanced biofuels to account for proven production capacity and to support continued investment and economic growth.”
