EPA's Small Refinery Exemption Announcement a Positive Step, But Full Reallocation of Gallons Still Needed

(ANKENY, Iowa) – Today, EPA granted a new round of small refinery exemptions for the 2025 RFS compliance year and pushed the compliance deadline back again. The agency also said it intends to propose and finalize a supplemental rule this fall to reallocate the exempted gallons to 2026 and 2027 RFS volumes.

Grant Kimberley, executive director of the Iowa Biodiesel Board, issued the following statement:

"We thank the Trump administration for today's commitment to restore these exempted RFS gallons, and we're also grateful to Iowa's congressional delegation for stepping in and pushing EPA to get this right. It's a positive step forward, and one we don't take for granted.

“However, an intention is not a done deal. This restoration will still have to go through a formal rulemaking process this fall, and until it's finalized, the progress toward the record renewable volume obligations for biofuel this administration already announced can still be erased. Time is of the essence. We ask for EPA and the White House to commit, at the highest level, to reallocating 100% of the gallons exempted through small refinery exemptions. Iowa's biodiesel producers and the farmers who supply them built their plans around those numbers. Nothing less than full reallocation keeps that promise whole.”

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Jenna Rose, IBB