Eliminating the RFS and Its Destructive Outcomes Act
This bill, titled the Eliminating the RFS and Its Destructive Outcomes Act, would repeal the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program run by the Environmental Protection Agency. Specifically, it repeals Section 211(o) of the Clean Air Act, which established the RFS, and makes conforming changes to remove references to the RFS from related provisions in the Clean Air Act. It also amends the Petroleum Marketing Practices Act to insert a note about the regulatory status of certain fuel rules as they existed before the bill’s enactment. In short, the bill would end federal requirements mandating the blending of renewable fuels (like ethanol and biodiesel) into transportation fuel and would adjust related regulatory references accordingly. The accompanying changes appear designed to preserve, at least temporarily, the pre-enactment baseline of some fuel regulations for marketing purposes. Potential effects include reduced demand for renewable fuels, changes for farmers and renewable-fuel producers, and shifts in the petroleum and refiners’ regulatory landscape. Environmental and energy-market implications could follow, depending on how other policies and market forces respond in the absence of the RFS, along with transitional regulatory dynamics as agencies adjust to repeal.
Key Points
- 1Repeal of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS): Section 211(o) of the Clean Air Act would be repealed, eliminating the federal program that requires blending renewable fuels into transportation fuels.
- 2Conforming amendments to the Clean Air Act: References to the RFS (specifically provisions labeled (n) and (o)) would be removed or adjusted in 211(d), aligning the statute with its repeal.
- 3Amendment to the Petroleum Marketing Practices Act: Section 107(a)(1)(B) would be amended to insert a note acknowledging the status of certain regulations “as in effect on the day before the date of enactment,” effectively tying some fuel-regulation references to the pre-enactment baseline.
- 4Short title: The bill would be cited as the “Eliminating the RFS and Its Destructive Outcomes Act.”
- 5Regulatory transition: The amendments imply a transitional approach that preserves certain pre-enactment regulatory baselines for fuels, even after repeal of the RFS, at least in the specific context of the Petroleum Marketing Practices Act reference.