Iowa Gov., Kim Reynolds, says she is incredibly disappointed in the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) failure to reallocate millions of lost gallons of renewable fuels last week. She says this is a “brazen and unprecedented use of small refinery exemption waivers.” The 2020 proposed Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) volume requirements for ethanol will be maintained at the implied 15-billion gallon target set by Congress. However, the plan does not address the lost gallons from previous or future waivers to small refineries who can claim creating ethanol blends harms their ability to operate at a profit. The EPA also set a .12 billion gallon higher rate estimate for biomass-based diesel, but then locked it at 2.43 billion gallons for 2021, below the 2.6 billion gallons consumer used in 2018. “A robust RFS is essential to a healthy ag economy in Iowa and across the country,” Reynolds says. “I urge EPA Secretary Wheeler to reverse course and uphold President Trump’s commitment to rural America by strengthening the RFS and putting an end to the abusive practice of granting waivers to profitable oil refineries.”