EPA nominee Scott Pruitt told senators that he would enforce the federal mandate to blend biofuels into the U.S. gasoline supply, reserving the right to adjust the Renewable Fuels Standard to reflect market conditions. Newly elected Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth said the “nice-sounding but ultimately vague” answer could allow him to gut the program, popular in farm country and hated by the oil industry.
“You’ve not actually said you would stick with it,” said Duckworth, a Democrat, during a confirmation hearing for Pruitt by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Created in 2007, the RFS has inspired regulatory warfare between its backers and foes. EPA used its discretion to set the corn ethanol targets for 2014, 2015 and 2016 below the amount written in statute. This year is the first time the corn ethanol mandate is set at the maximum of 15 billion gallons.
President-elect Donald Trump campaigned as a supporter of the biofuels mandate. During visits with senators to prepare for the Senate hearing, Pruitt has said he will enforce the law.
At the hearing, Pruitt told Sen. Deb Fischer, a Nebraska Republican, that he would “honor the intent” of the RFS law and follow its guidelines on when and how many billions of gallons of biofuels should be used. He told Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, the No. 1 corn and ethanol producer, that variation from the targets — waivers, in regulatory lingo — “should be judiciously used.”
“Those waivers, obviously, are in order,” said Pruitt, referring to EPA decisions to set lower mandates than allowed by statute. “But with respect to marketing conditions, we have less consumption today, more fuel-efficient vehicles … Despite that, the EPA should not use that [waiver authority] to undermine or put into question the commitments made by this body in the RFS statute.”
Pruitt singled out repeated, tardy announcement of the annual RFS mandate by EPA when Duckworth asked if EPA failed to comply with the RFS law. Farm groups and ethanol makers have howled when EPA lowered the biofuels targets, calling it a deviation from the law. The oil industry says EPA consistently sets the levels too high. The gasoline market is saturated with ethanol at the traditional blend rate of 10 percent, it says.
“You are giving these vague answers that sound right when it comes to RFS but really open all sorts of back doors for you to oppose the RFS,” said Duckworth.
Three years ago, Duckworth said, Pruitt had called the RFS an unworkable and flawed program.
“Mr Pruitt’s remarks today, coupled with President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign promises to support the RFS, indicate a clear commitment to ensuring the RFS will not be undermined by the incoming administration,” said the National Farmers Union.
The largest U.S. farm group, the American Farm Bureau Federation, supports Pruitt’s nomination because of Trump’s promise to end over-regulation of farmers and Pruitt’s lead position in challenging the EPA’s Waters of the United States rule to define the upstream reach of clean-water laws. The renewable fuels industry paid for a TV ad with footage of Trump saying he will “protect the Renewable Fuels Standard.” The ethanol trade group Growth Energy commissioned a poll showing Trump voters in the Midwest — ethanol country — support the RFS by an 8-to-1 margin.
In six years as Oklahoma attorney general, Pruitt sued the EPA 14 times to block regulations. Democratic senators questioned his commitment to environmental stewardship; Republicans at the hearing said the Obama administration repeatedly overstepped its power. “Clearly, a wholesale change is needed,” said Sen. John Barrasso, a Wyoming Republican and chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee.
States should be “our nation’s frontline environmental implementers and enforcers,” said Pruitt, who advocated “cooperative federalism.”
To watch a video of the hearing or to read Pruitt’s opening statement, click here.