Gonzales (La.) Weekly Citizen
Sen. Kennedy: EPA actions would hurt Louisiana's small refineries, raise gas prices
Staff Report
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) joined Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) in pushing Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael S. Regan into reconsidering two proposed actions that they said would hurt small refineries in Louisiana and raise gas prices.
Kennedy released a statement following news of the EPA's plan to invest more than $600,000 to procure air pollution monitoring equipment for industrial areas in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.
Regan previously traveled to Louisiana and met with residents in New Orleans, St. John the Baptist Parish, St. James Parish, and Mossville concerning the impacts of pollution and climate change.
“In every community I visited during the Journey to Justice tour, the message was clear - residents have suffered far too long, and local, state, and federal agencies have to do better,” Regan stated.
The EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard program requires petroleum-based transportation fuel, heating oil and jet fuel to contain a specific amount of renewable fuel, Kennedy pointed out.
The EPA annually determines this Renewable Volume Obligation. Small refineries can receive temporary exemptions from the RVO if they can show that compliance with the RVO would cause them disproportionate economic hardship.
The EPA proposed to increase the 2022 RVO to unprecedented high levels and to deny all 65 pending small refinery exemptions without providing a cause, Kennedy added.
“We are puzzled by the action EPA took in these proposals, including the unprecedented and drastic step to propose a blanket denial of all 65 outstanding small refinery hardship petitions at a time of increasing gasoline prices and several small refinery closures around the nation," the senators wrote in a release. "The current proposal neglects not only its own economic impacts, but negates the intent of Congress in deliberately amending the Clean Air Act to allow for exemptions for small refiners that suffer disproportionate economic hardship from compliance with the RFS."
“With that in mind, we urge EPA to reconsider this effort to deny all 65 outstanding small refinery petitions and the proposal to set the RVO at unprecedented levels for 2022. Reconsidering these actions will provide much-needed relief and certainty for companies, employees, and communities across the country; bolster access to affordable, domestically-produced fuels for American consumers; and remove obstacles for an economy already facing significant challenges from inflation and other supply chain challenges,” the senators concluded.
Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), and Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) also signed the letter.