Biofuel rules near release

Des Moines Register
By Philip Brasher • pbrasher@dmreg.com • April 30, 2009

The Environmental Protection Agency appears close to releasing long-awaited proposed rules the new renewable fuels standard that Congress passed in 2007. The Office of Management and Budget has given notice that it has finished reviewing the proposals.

The stakes are huge for both the ethanol and biodiesel industries because the rules will determine whether existing and future biodiesel plants and future ethanol plants can meet targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. EPA was required to take into consideration the impacts of indirect land use.

The biodiesel industry is particularly vulnerable. Depending on how the analysis comes out, biodiesel made with soybean oil could be disqualified from counting toward the annual biodiesel usage mandates.

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