April 2022 Alternative RFS Compliance Demonstration Approach for Certain Small Refineries

Action Summary

On April 7, 2022, EPA denied 36 petitions for small refinery exemptions (SRE) under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program for the 2018 compliance year. This denial action included a subset of 31 SRE petitions that EPA had previously granted, but that were remanded to the Agency by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit after the original grants were challenged. Concurrent with the SRE denials, EPA is also taking action to provide an alternate compliance approach that allows the 31 small refineries to meet their new 2018 compliance obligations without purchasing or redeeming additional RFS credits. EPA is granting this compliance flexibility because the Agency has determined that there are extenuating circumstances specific to this set of petitions, including the fact that SRE petitions were previously granted.

This decision is a final Agency action.

Additional Resources

• Notice of April 2022 Alternative Compliance Demonstration Approach for Certain Small Refineries Under the Renewable Fuel Standard Program (pdf) (published April 25, 2022)
• April 2022 Alternative RFS Compliance Demonstration Approach for Certain Small Refineries (pdf) (April 2022, EPA-420-R-22-006)
• April 2022 Denial of Petitions for RFS Small Refinery Exemptions