Farmers, Renewable Fuel Producers Press EPA on Emissions Standards

WASHINGTON — Seven national associations, representing everyone from farmers to retailers to renewable fuel producers, are urging the Environmental Protection Agency to adopt a “market-oriented, technology-neutral” approach to setting the next round of tailpipe emissions standards.

In April, the EPA proposed new, more ambitious emissions standards for passenger cars, light trucks and medium-duty vehicles the agency said would significantly reduce emissions of CO2, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter.

EPA officials went on to explain the proposed changes would not only help stem the adverse impact of climate change, but would also lead to lower hospital admissions and emergency department visits, fewer cases of asthma symptoms, lost workdays for adults and missing school days for children.

But in a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan, the seven associations complain that the proposed rule favors electric vehicles while failing to consider the decarbonization potential of existing biofuels that can improve the emissions profile of the vast majority of cars currently on the road. 

The organizations — National Association of Convenience Stores; National Corn Growers Association; NATSO, Representing America’s Travel Plazas and Truckstops; National Farmers Union; Renewable Fuels Association; SIGMA: America’s Leading Fuel Marketers; and Growth Energy — instead recommend the EPA account for all emissions relating to different fuel and engine technologies and equitably incentivize emissions reductions from all of those technologies.

“EPA should use the best available science to accurately account for the full lifecycle carbon intensity associated with particular fuels and technologies, but its proposed approach ignores the significant upstream emissions from electricity generation associated with electric vehicles,” the groups said in the letter sent to Regan last week.

“Incentives for alternative fuel technologies should be tied to those technologies’ full lifecycle environmental attributes rather than a single cherry-picked step in the lifecycle (i.e., tailpipe emissions).”

The groups also said the proposed rule “exceeds the scope of the agency’s statutory authority, which does not include authority to set greenhouse gas emission standards that effectively mandate EVs.” 

If finalized as proposed, the EPA expects its tailpipe emissions standards could result in EVs accounting for 67% of new light-duty vehicle sales and 46% of new medium-duty vehicle sales by 2032. 

“The speed at which the agency appears to anticipate the market and consumers will transition to electric vehicles is divorced from our members’ assessment of reality,” the associations said. 

“The proposed rule does not appreciate the market obstacles associated with such a massive transition in consumer behavior. It also abandons proven decarbonization technologies, such as higher-octane liquid fuels, that can deliver material emissions reductions using existing infrastructure, existing vehicles and working with consumers’ existing behavioral proclivities.”

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