WASHINGTON, August 20, 2012- The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a Federal Register notice opening a 30 day comment period on requests from the Governors of Arkansas and North Carolina to waive the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) requirements.
Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe and North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue each submitted an RFS waiver request last week citing the historic drought and threats to each state’s livestock and poultry industries.
Governors in Maryland and Delaware as well as 156 members of the U.S. House of Representatives; 34 U.S. Senators and a coalition of livestock, poultry, meat, dairy and feed organizations argued that an RFS waiver is needed to help provide relieve from high corn prices caused by the mandate and the drought.
“The current drought and diminishing corn crop will devastate our economy if the RFS is not waived,” said Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., in a statement following the announcement today. “I urge livestock producers, businesses small and large, and others impacted by the RFS mandate to submit their comments to the EPA.”
The EPA has 90 days to decide on the RFS waiver petitions. The Clean Air Act allows the Administrator of the EPA to waive the national volume requirements of the renewable fuel standard program in whole or in part if implementing the requirements would severely harm the economy or environment or if there is inadequate domestic supply of renewable fuel, according to the EPA announcement.
The Federal Register notice is available here.
#30
For more news, go to www.agri-pulse.com