EPA releases RFS analysis
News Date August 11, 2009
Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released several peer reviews of their recent Renewable Fuel Standard Program (RFS2) Lifecycle Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Analysis. When released earlier this year, the analysis brought on myriad concerns with the potential negative impacts it may have on the future of domestic biofuels, especially with the consideration of indirect land use change. In the months since the release, EPA organized for the peer reviews to be conducted to evaluate the recommended revisions to the RFS.
In response to EPA’s release, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-MN) said: "The EPA peer review panel reaffirmed many of the concerns I have about the EPA's proposed rule and rulemaking process for the RFS2. The panel expressed concern about using these incomplete and unreliable models to measure indirect land use changes and indicated that they didn't have enough time to review this convoluted and complicated proposal. I am also concerned that there is no evidence that the U.S. Department of Agriculture or any other Federal agencies with expertise on these issues were included in the peer review process. This is exactly why the House of Representatives voted in the climate change bill to limit EPA's ability to implement international indirect land use provisions in the RFS2." (Contact: David Hickey)