Iowa Leaders Challenge Refinery Ethanol Exemptions

Leaders in Iowa ethanol and agriculture warn that federal plans to make small refineries exempt from renewable fuel rules “would irreversibly undermine” the nation’s Renewable Fuel Standard.In Council Bluffs Wednesday, Monte Shaw, executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, and Secretary of Iowa Agriculture and Land Stewardship Mike Naig held a news conference to criticize the small-refinery exemptions being considered by the Environmental Protection Agency.Naig said there are currently 39 small-refinery exemptions before the EPA.“We believe it is time for the EPA to address this threat to the Renewable Fuel Standard,” Naig said, adding that over the last two years, the agency has granted waivers accounting for 2.6 billion gallons of ethanol or about 1 billion bushels of corn.