US oil, biofuel groups unite to urge new Trump EPA to boost biofuel mandates

By Stephanie Kelly

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. oil and biofuel groups banded together this week to urge the new Trump administration to increase volumes of renewable fuels that must be blended into the nation's fuel mix in 2026 and beyond, according to a letter seen by Reuters.

The move is unusual because the oil and biofuels industries are frequently at odds with each other on issues related to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program, the around two-decade-old law that requires refiners to blend billions of gallons of biofuels into fuels like gasoline, or buy credits from those that do.

The oil industry has historically seen biofuels, like corn-based ethanol, as unwanted competition to petroleum-based fuels. Both industries' interests, however, align in opposition to electric vehicles, which pose a threat to any form of liquid fuel.

President Donald Trump last month revoked his predecessor Joe Biden's executive order to make half of all new vehicles sold in 2030 electric in an effort to slash greenhouse gas emissions.

"While our organizations have not always agreed on every detail, we have joined together in recognition of the critical role liquid fuels serve in the American economy, to advance liquid fuels, and ensure consumers have a choice of how they fuel their vehicles," the groups said in a letter to Lee Zeldin, the new administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency, dated Wednesday.

"We believe strong, steady volumes for conventional biofuel targets, biomass-based diesel, and advanced fuels would more accurately reflect the availability and ongoing investments in feedstocks and production capacity," the letter added.

One of the groups clarified to Reuters that they want an increase in volumes.

The groups that signed the letter included the American Petroleum Institute, one of the nation's top oil trade organizations, and the Renewable Fuels Association and Growth Energy.

The American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, another oil group that typically weighs in on RFS-related issues, was absent from the letter.

The groups also urged the EPA to release multi-year standards for the RFS to provide more market certainty for both refiners and renewable fuel producers.

Renewable volume obligations, commonly known as RVOs, were proposed and finalized annually until the compliance year 2023, when standards were set through 2025. The administration soon will likely need to begin considerations for 2026 volumes.

The EPA finalized biofuel blending volumes at 20.94 billion gallons in 2023, 21.54 billion gallons in 2024 and 22.33 billion gallons in 2025.

(Reporting by Stephanie Kelly; Editing by Marguerita Choy)