FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact:
Kristina Baum – 202.224.6176
Donelle Harder – 202.224.1282

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, released the following statement on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) announcement today of three proposed annual mandates for the Renewable Fuel Standard:

"EPA's announcement adds to the building evidence of how poorly the agency has managed the renewable fuel standard, and how the mandate is in need of significant reform and oversight. Clearly, the statutory volumes are unachievable. For example, the blendwall of 10 percent of gasoline demand is currently around 13 billion gallons, however, the ethanol mandate continues to rise further in statute. Every year since the Renewable Fuel Standard was expanded, EPA has missed implementation deadlines, waived entire portions of annual required volumes, and has had to approve imported feedstocks for RFS compliance. All of these actions by EPA give a clear case for a mismanaged program in need of rigorous oversight.”

EPA is required under the Clean Air Act to finalize volumes by Nov. 30 of the prior year, which means the 2014 mandate announced today will be three years late by the time it is finalized.

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