The Trump administration wants more time to decide whether to appeal a January
ruling by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that threatens to undermine
EPA's ability to grant small-refinery exemptions from the Renewable Fuel
Standard (RFS).

In a late-Friday filing, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) asked the court
for a 15-day extension to Monday's deadline for appealing to the full circuit
court a Jan. 24 decision by a three-judge panel that ordered EPA to revoke
three SREs it had approved in 2016 and 2017. The judges found the agency had
exceeded its authority in approving the waivers because the Clean Air Act
prevents it from extending exemptions to any small refineries whose earlier
waivers had lapsed.

The court also said EPA improperly considered economic factors other than RFS
compliance when it granted the waivers.

In the filing, the DOJ said the court's interpretation of the RFS "alters EPA's
interpretation and practice, which has been employed in the adjudication of
past exemption petitions from many small refineries."

DOJ said the court's interpretation could also have "significant practical
impacts on the RFS program going forward."

EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler told a U.S. House Appropriations subcommittee
last week that the agency was still working "to find the right path forward" in
the wake of the ruling and is looking at actions to "quell" the RINs market.

Prices for D6 ethanol-related Renewable Identification Number (RIN) credits had
steadily risen from around 15cts on the day of the court ruling to trade above
40cts for the first time in nearly two years last week before sliding to an
OPIS assessment at 34.5cts on Friday after Bloomberg reported that the Trump
administration would appeal the ruling.

They were reported traded at 36cts and 36.5cts on Monday morning, with trade
activity largely subdued in the wake of the broader slide of energy and
financial markets.

Ethanol industry group Growth Energy in a statement Saturday said "EPA
shouldn't try to deny the inevitable truth -- it's recent radical escalation of
SREs was unlawful, in the 10th Circuit and nationwide. No amount of delay will
change that."

--Reporting by Jordan Godwin, jgodwin@opisnet.com; Editing by Jeff Barber,
jbarber@opisnet.com



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