The Trump administration is considering increasing U.S. biofuels mandates by 1 billion gallons for 2020, according to a document seen by Reuters, the latest bid to quell farmer anger over a recent broad use of exemptions for oil refiners.
The plan would involve a previously discussed 500 million gallons for conventional biofuels, largely corn-based ethanol, as well as an additional 500 million gallons for advanced biofuels like biodiesel for 2020, according to the document.
That increase would help address "excess waivers" doled out to small refineries last month, the document said.
The Trump administration had previously been considering a 500-million-gallon increase and an increase to the biodiesel mandate for 2021 of 250 million gallons as part of the plan.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in July had proposed setting the volume of biofuels that refiners must blend into their fuel at 20.04 billion gallons in 2020, up from 19.92 billion gallons in 2019. That included 15 billion gallons of conventional biofuels like ethanol, unchanged from 2019. The EPA also proposed setting the 2021 biodiesel volume at 2.43 billion gallons, unchanged from 2020.
The timing of the plan and additional details of the plan were not yet known.
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