The Trump administration, in an effort to mend fences with the powerful corn lobby, proposed on Tuesday a deal to offset waivers granted to oil refiners that exempts them from the nation’s biofuel blending requirements, the Environmental Protection Agency said.
The proposed plan would calculate the volume of biofuels refiners have to blend by using a three-year average of exempted gallons as recommended by the Department of Energy, the EPA said. This will potentially boost demand for biofuels, a response to farmers who were outraged by the EPA’s decision in August to exempt 31 oil refineries from their obligations under the Renewable Fuel Standard.