Energy

A likely move by EPA to dramatically restrict the number of economic hardship waivers it grants to small refiners from having to comply with renewable fuel standard (RFS) biofuels production targets raises serious doubts over the fate of the program’s 2020 fuel goals, sources say, as the move could undermine the basis for the 2020 RFS.

A House committee hearing is showcasing the continued political divisions on how and whether to address climate change, with Republicans slamming a Democratic measure to slash greenhouse gas emissions on public lands while touting a plan to encourage tree planting and wood harvesting as an alternative.

The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC), a group that agrees with environmentalists on the need to address climate change, is nonetheless siding with industry in support of the Trump administration’s controversial proposed changes to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), arguing reform is needed to spur clean energy projects.

EPA has been unable to finalize potentially threshold changes underlying the cost-benefit analysis of its Mercury & Air Toxics Standards (MATS) rule because regulatory reviewers at the Office of Management & Budget (OMB) do not understand the measure’s broader goals, which is to narrow how benefits are calculated.