Lawmakers pitch plans to tweak biofuel mandate

Lawmakers unveiled Thursday the firstmajor proposal to rewrite a mandate forcing refiners to blend biofuels into gasoline, amid a growing outcry against the eight-year-old requirement.

Rep. Gregg Harper, R-Miss., and Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, introduced the legislation, which would effectively force theU.S. Environmental Protection Agency to set the annual targets for blending cellulosic biofuels based on the amount of biofuels produced the previous year. A companion measure was introduced in the Senate by Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., David Vitter, R-La., and Michael Crapo, R-Idaho.

Currently under the Renewable Fuel Standard, the EPA sets steadily escalating targets for various biofuels.

The EPA just proposed establishing a 14 million-gallon target for cellulosic biofuel made from grasses, solid waste and other non-edible-material in 2013, though virtually none was commercially available last year. The move came on the heels of a court ruling that the EPA’s 2010 target of 8.65 million gallons was unrealistic.

Because very few cellulosic biofuels have been available, refiners can be hit with noncompliance fines or purchase waiver credits from the EPA at a rate of 78 cents per gallon. Oil industry trade groups have said it is unfair to penalize refiners for not hitting “aspirational” targets for elusive “phantom fuels.”