Agricultural News
Growth Energy and American Farm Bureau Federation Urge Supreme Court to Uphold Ruling Against Demand Destruction
Wed, 31 Mar 2021 14:35:25 CDT
Today, Growth Energy and the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court case HollyFrontier Cheyenne Refining, LLC, et al., v. Renewable Fuels Association, et al. The joint brief defends a lower court's ruling, which vacated refinery exemptions improperly granted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Following the brief filing, Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor released the following statement:
"The outcome of this case before the Supreme Court will be a pivotal moment for the biofuels industry and the integrity of the Renewable Fuel Standard," said Skor. "We are proud to provide additional support to the respondents, and to address two additional and critical considerations to the court: agency deference and the importance of providing a remedy for the billions of gallons of biofuel demand destroyed by unlawful exemptions. We urge the Supreme Court to affirm the 10th Circuit decision, reject attempts by a handful of oil refiners to avoid blending obligations, and ensure the integrity of the RFS is upheld nationwide."
Growth Energy and AFBF's brief outlines three main arguments. First, that the EPA's interpretation of the small refinery exemption (SRE) eligibility provisions of the RFS is not entitled to deference on several grounds, not least of which are that it was not made in the exercise of EPA's lawmaking authority and, in any case, no longer reflects EPA's considered position.
Second, the trade groups reinforce the respondents' arguments on the merits of the question presented to the Court, arguing that the text, structure, and purpose of the RFS require the Court to hold that the meaning of "extension" in the RFS statute requires continuous, uninterrupted exemptions as a condition of future SRE eligibility.
Third, Growth Energy and AFBF call on the Court to provide meaningful judicial review by also providing an adequate remedy that requires refineries to comply with blending obligations that had been unlawfully waived.
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