Boyden Gray & Associates partner Adam Gustafson discussed pending litigation and forthcoming rulemakings concerning biofuels at the Iowa Renewable Fuel Summit, in a conversation with Iowa RFA Executive Director Monte Shaw.
Gustafson expressed hope for market access for fuel blends with higher concentrations of ethanol in light of the President’s commitment to removing regulatory barriers to higher ethanol blends, EPA’s work on the forthcoming RVP rule for year-round E15, a convergence of interests between the biofuel and automotive industries, and executive branch policy on energy independence, rural prosperity, and American agriculture.
The interview covered the following topics:
- litigation challenging EPA’s recent small refinery exemptions under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), Renewable Fuels Ass’n v. EPA, No. 18-9533 (10th Cir. filed May 29, 2018);
- EPA’s implementation of the D.C. Circuit’s remand of EPA’s renewable fuel volume requirement for 2016, based on EPA’s misinterpretation of its “inadequate domestic supply” waiver authority, Americans for Clean Energy v. EPA, No. 16-1005 (D.C. Cir. July 28, 2017);
- litigation concerning related document requests under the Freedom of Information Act, Renewable Fuels Ass’n v. EPA, No. 18-2031 (D.D.C. filed Aug. 30, 2018);
- litigation challenging EPA’s failure to issue an anti-backsliding study required by the RFS, and the implications of EPA’s use of the MOVES2014 vehicular emissions model, Sierra Club v. Wheeler, No. 17-2174 (D.D.C. filed Oct. 18, 2017);
- EPA and DOT’s proposed fuel economy and greenhouse gas standards, and the relevance of high-octane ethanol, Safer Affordable Fuel Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Proposed Rule for Model Years 2021-2026, 83 Fed. Reg. 42,986 (Aug. 24, 2018); and
- EPA’s forthcoming rule to remove the discriminatory Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) limitation on fuel blends with higher concentrations of ethanol.
Gustafson currently represents Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri Corn Growers Associations before EPA and other federal agencies on regulatory matters concerning vehicles and fuels.