EPA to scrap proposed EV volumes from biofuel blending rule

Reuters reports today, citing three unnamed sources familiar with the matter that the Biden administration is planning to discard a proposal to include the electric vehicle industry into the U.S. biofuel blending program. Additionally, the administration intends to retract tradable credits worth potentially billions of dollars that were associated with this initiative.

It was first reported in early May that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was considering delaying the EV program over concerns the plan could trigger lawsuits. The final rule, subject to review by the White House, is scheduled to be published later this month.

A decision to abandon the plan would push the administration further away from allowing EVs to generate nearly 2 billion credits under the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard over the next two years. A move which companies like Tesla Inc. have advocated for. The EV program would have played a crucial role in advancing President Joe Biden's objective of electrifying the automotive industry as part of the broader efforts to combat climate change.

The EPA proposed last year to include EVs into the RFS, in what would have been a major overhaul of an often contentious law which requires oil refiners to blend billions of gallons of biofuels into the country's fuel blend or purchase tradable credits from those that do.

In last year's proposal, the EPA foresaw EV manufacturers could generate as many as 600 million credits in 2024 and 1.2 billion of them by 2025. Those estimates were included within the cellulosic credit pool in the proposal.

However, the three sources, the EPA will remove those estimated volumes from a final rule that the agency is expected to release by June 14.

Those in the electric vehicle and renewable natural gas industries were hopeful that even with a delay, an EV program could still be passed by the end of the year.

The White House, which is currently reviewing a final rule on the biofuel mandates, declined to comment.

By Michael Elkins | [email protected]

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