U.S. EPA grants five new hardship waivers for 2017

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has granted five of the seven outstanding small refinery hardship waivers requested for the 2017 compliance year under the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard, data on its website showed on Thursday, bringing the year’s total approvals to 37.

The agency has also received two more petitions for the hardship waivers for the compliance year 2018, bringing the total number of applications filed to 39.

The RFS requires refiners to blend biofuels like ethanol into their fuel each year or buy compliance credits from competitors that do. But it allows the EPA to exempt plants of less than 75,000 barrels per day if they show complying would cause financial hardship.

The EPA vastly expanded the program under President Donald Trump. But farm-state lawmakers have complained that the waivers are being overused in a way that is killing demand for corn-based ethanol. (Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Richard Chang)