Monroe Energy, LLC v. EPA

–

Respondent-intervenor National Biodiesel Board (NBB) filed a petition for rehearing of a portion of the D.C. Circuit’s decision. NBB sought reconsideration of the holding that Monroe Energy, LLC had Article III standing to challenge the RFS. NBB argued that Monroe Energy’s claimed energy was higher compliance costs resulting from third-party actions, and that Monroe Energy had produced no evidence that a decision in its favor would have redressed such an injury. NBB urged a rehearing to prevent the use of annual challenges to the RFS to raise questions about “fundamental precepts” of the program.

The D.C. Circuit upheld EPA’s <a href="http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-08-15/pdf/2013-19557.pdf">rule</a> establishing the 2013 renewable fuel standards. In the final rule, which was issued months past the statutory deadline, EPA maintained the volumes for total renewable fuels and advanced biofuels established by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 as amended by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. EPA reduced the statutory volume for cellulosic biofuel from 1.0 billion gallons to 6 million gallons. The D.C. Circuit rejected petitioner’s contentions that EPA had acted arbitrarily or unreasonably by not reducing the total renewable fuel quota despite having substantially reduced the volume for cellulosic biofuel and despite the constraints posed by the “E10 blendwall” created by the inability of U.S. vehicle engines to use gasoline consisting of more than 10% ethanol. The court also said that EPA’s failure to meet the statutory deadline for setting the RFS was not a basis for vacating the rule since obligated parties had been put on notice by the volumes set in the statute and EPA’s assertion in the proposed rule that it would not waive statutory volumes other than for cellulosic biofuel and because EPA had extended the compliance deadline by four months.