Growth Energy v. EPA

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The D.C. Circuit largely rejected challenges to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) 2019 rule setting renewable fuel volumes in the Clean Air Act’s Renewable Fuel Standard Program. The court rejected all arguments by obligated parties and renewable fuel producers but agreed with environmental petitioners that EPA’s (1) determination that the rule would have no effect on endangered species or their critical habitat and (2) decision not to reduce applicable volumes to prevent severe environmental harm were at odds with the evidence in the administrative record.

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Trade associations, refiners, environmental organizations, and other parties filed petitions in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals seeking review of EPA’s 2019 renewable fuel percentage standards for the Renewable Fuel Standard program. The challenged rule also set volume requirements for cellulosic biofuel, advanced biofuel, and total renewable fuel for 2019, and the applicable volume of biomass-based diesel for 2020. Petitioners included an ethanol trade association; a trade group representing the Biomass Power Association, the American Biogas Council, and the Energy Recovery Council; a petroleum products refiner; a trade group representing independent petroleum retailers and convenience stores; a biodiesel trade association; an “ad hoc working group of companies that own and operate biomass-based diesel and ethanol production plants and participate in the [RFS] program”; a transportation fuels refiner and owner of biofuel plants; and environmental and conservation groups.