As ethanol producers struggle to recover, the industry is holding out hope a new waiver review could offer some relief.
The Department of Energy is reviewing controversial gap year filings. Ethanol leaders claim oil refiners use gap year filings to work around waivers. While the oil industry says that blending mandates cause financial hardship. As the DOE reviews the petition, the agency will take the 10th Circuit Court ruling into consideration.
“We’ll do everything according to the law and our understanding of the law, there’s no question about that... we will ensure, whatever analysis we are required to conduct under the law, whatever we send to the EPA, is going to be fully compliant with, not only the 10th Circuit decision, but also, the federal statute,” Dan Brouillette, the Secretary of Energy, said.
Brouillette argues that there are different legal opinions on gap year waivers; however, the agency maintains its review method. So far, the DOE has not provided an update on its current review and has not released a timeline for its recommendations to the EPA.