WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) along with Sens. Pat Toomey (R-PA), John Barrasso (R-WY), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Steve Daines (R-MT), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), John Kennedy (R-LA), James Lankford (R-OK), Mike Lee (R-UT), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Jim Risch (R-ID), sent a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan requesting a waiver of restrictions under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) to relieve the economic burden on refineries across the U.S.
In the letter, the senators express concern that decreased demand for refined-petroleum products and increasing compliance costs due to the COVID-19 pandemic are crippling the economies of oil-refining states.
“The renewable fuels for the 2020 compliance year have already been produced and blended. Thus, a waiver presents no risk of harm to the biofuels industry,” wrote the Senators. “This necessary action would provide a degree of relief for these states and avert additional refinery closures and the ensuing economic ripple effects. If relief is not provided in a timely manner, more refineries will be forced to shut down and placed thousands of workers on the unemployment rolls just as the economy is beginning to roar back.”
