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The agency, which oversees the Renewable Fuel
Standard (RFS) program, has asked for public comments before
submitting a request to Office of Management and Budget
regarding volume projections on cellulosic fuel production,
according to a notice published on Tuesday in the Federal
Register.
The deadline for comments is May 26, the notice said.
That could "indicate some sort of delay" to RFS announcement,
said Tim Cheung, a research analyst with ClearView Energy
Partners, LLC in Washington. "We think this might postpone the
self-imposed deadline."
The agency has said it will announce rules for blending for
2014, 2015, and 2016 this spring. It is late in releasing
mandates for biofuels volumes that the U.S. industry is required
to blend into transportation fuels for 2014 and 2015.
The information request is for a new qualification process
designed to be more "streamlined" for corn starch and grain
sorghum ethanol producers, said an EPA spokeswoman. She said it
would not affect the overall RFS rule-making on blending
mandates "in terms of timing, numbers or policy."
On March 19, the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers
and the American Petroleum Institute sued the EPA, saying it has
"ignored" its duty to issue requirements for blending ethanol
and biodiesel into U.S. fuel supplies by the deadline set under
federal law.
The groups said the delays have hurt their members financially
because they have been unable to plan or adjust their output to
comply with the annual targets.
(Reporting by Chris Prentice; Editing by Grant McCool)
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