Debate centers on RFS as ethanol industry continues to fight

Nothing is set in stone with federal policy and the ethanol industry, and the same is true for 2018. The industry will continue to face annual political fights and legal battles to keep the Renewable Fuel Standard in place, the backbone of the industry. With commodity prices low and input costs high, changes to the RFS can affect the demand for ethanol and ultimately corn in the United States. About 15 billion gallons of corn ethanol is produced per year, which equates to about 5.4 billion bushels of corn demand. Bill Northey's nomination to a USDA undersecretary post continues to be held up by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. Cruz demands changes to the RFS, most notably to the biofuels credit program to help refiners control costs to comply.Dozens of small refiners on the East Coast have petitioned EPA to waive RFS requirements. In a letter to Pruitt last week, the RFA questioned whether the agency was transparent in its management of RFS small refinery exemption provisions. EPA can exempt small refineries with crude oil throughput of less than 75,000 barrels of crude per day.