Office of Transportation and Air Quality

EPA-420-F-13-048

November 2013

EPA Proposes 2014 Renewable Fuel 

Standards, 2015 Biomass-Based 

Diesel Volume

Under the Clean Air Act (CAA), as amended by the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007, the Environmental 

Protection Agency (EPA) is required to set the annual standards for 

the Renewable Fuel Standard program (RFS) for each year. This regulatory action proposes to establish the annual percentage standards for 

2014 for cellulosic, biomass-based diesel, advanced biofuel, and total 

renewable fuels that apply to gasoline and diesel produced or imported 

in year 2014. EPA is also required to determine the applicable national 

volume of biomass-based diesel that will be required in 2015, as the 

statute does not specify the applicable volumes for years after 2012. 

The proposal seeks to put the RFS program on a steady path forward – ensuring the 

continued growth of renewable fuels while recognizing the practical limits on ethanol 

blending, called the ethanol “blend wall.” The blend wall refers to the difficulty in 

incorporating increasing amounts of ethanol into the transportation fuel supply at 

volumes exceeding those achieved by the sale of nearly all gasoline as E10 (gasoline 

containing 10 percent ethanol by volume). Although the production of renewable 

fuels has been increasing, overall gasoline consumption in the United States is less 

than anticipated when Congress established the program by law in 2007. In order to 

address that issue, EPA is proposing – to use existing authorities under the law – to 

reduce the advanced biofuel and total renewable fuel standards for 2014. The Agency 

is also proposing to maintain the same volume for biomass-based diesel for 2014 and 

2015 as was adopted for 2013. Once the proposal is published in the Federal Register, 

it will be open to a 60 day public comment period.

EPA has also received several requests from regulated parties to partially waive the 

statutory volumes for 2014 and set them below the volumes specified in the statute. 

In a separate action, the Agency is seeking comment on these petitions for a waiver 

Regulatory Announcement
Regulatory Announcement

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of the renewable fuel standards that would apply in 2014. EPA expects that a determination on 

the substance of the petitions will be issued at the same time that EPA issues a final rule establishing the 2014 RFS standards.

Overview

The proposal discusses a variety of approaches for setting the 2014 standards, and includes a 

number of production and consumption ranges for key categories of biofuel covered by the RFS 

program. The proposal seeks comment on a range of total renewable fuel volumes for 2014, 

covering both ethanol and non-ethanol fuels, and proposes a level within that range for total 

renewable fuel at 15.21 billion gallons. For advanced biofuel, EPA proposes to reduce the statutory volume to the sum of the cellulosic volume, the biomass-based diesel requirement, and the 

additional non-ethanol advanced biofuels that could reasonably be expected to be available and 

consumed, at a level of 2.20 billion gallons. 

The proposed standards reflect EPA’s updated production projections, which are informed by 

extensive engagement with industry and a thorough assessment of the biofuels market. Proposing this reduction from the statutory levels is intended to put the program on a manageable 

trajectory while still allowing for growth in advanced and total renewable fuels over time. 

There are two different authorities in the statute that permit EPA to reduce volumes of 

advanced biofuel and total renewable fuel below the volumes specified in the statute. When 

the Agency lowers the applicable volume of cellulosic biofuel below the volume specified in 

the CAA, EPA also has the authority to reduce the applicable volumes of advanced biofuel and 

total renewable fuel by the same or a lesser amount. The Agency can also reduce the applicable 

volumes of renewable fuel under the general waiver authority provided by the CAA under 

certain conditions. This proposal uses a combination of these two authorities to reduce volumes 

of both advanced biofuel and total renewable fuel to address two important constraints:

•	 Limitations in the volume of ethanol that can be consumed in gasoline given practical 

constraints on the supply of higher ethanol blends to the vehicles that can use them and 

other limits on ethanol blend levels in gasoline – a set of factors commonly referred to as 

the ethanol “blend wall”

•	 Limitations in the ability of the industry to produce sufficient volumes of qualifying 

renewable fuel

Proposed 2014 Ranges and Volumes

This rulemaking also provides an evaluation of the expected volumes of cellulosic biofuel for 

2014. Based on an assessment of the available volumes of cellulosic biofuels, EPA is proposing 

to set the cellulosic biofuel standard at 17 million gallons, significantly lower than CAA target 

of 1.75 billion gallons. This projection reflects EPA’s current estimate of what will actually be 

produced in 2014, but EPA will consider public comments before setting the final cellulosic 

standard. In addition, EPA is proposing to maintain the biomass-based diesel standard for 2014 

and 2015 at the 2013 level of 1.28 billion gallons. Higher volumes of biomass-based diesel can 

be used to help meet the volume requirement for advanced biofuel.
Regulatory Announcement

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The projected 2014 volumes used to determine the proposed percentage standards are shown in 

Table 1. 

Table 1

Volumes Used to Determine the Proposed 2014 Percentage Standards

Category Volumea Range

Cellulosic biofuel 17 mill gal 8-30 million gallons

Biomass-based diesel 1.28 bill gal 1.28 billion gallonsb

Advanced biofuel 2.20 bill gal 2.0-2.51 billion gallons

Renewable fuel 15.21 bill gal 15.00-15.52 billion gallons

Cellulosic biofuel 0.010 percent

Biomass-based diesel 1.16 percent

Advanced biofuel 1.33 percent

Total renewable fuels 9.20 percent

a

All volumes are ethanol-equivalent, except for biomass-based diesel which is actual

b

EPA is requesting comment on alternative approaches and higher volumes

Four separate percentage standards are required under the RFS program, corresponding to the 

four separate volume requirements shown in Table 1. The percentage standards represent the 

ratio of renewable fuel volume to non-renewable gasoline and diesel volume. Thus, in 2014 

about 10% of all fuel used would be from renewable sources. The proposed standards for 2014 

are shown in Table 2.

Table 2

Proposed Percentage Standards for 2014

Once the proposal is published in the Federal Register, it will be open to a 60 day public comment 

period. The Agency expects to receive additional data during the public comment period and 

can adjust the proposed volumes as appropriate based on the latest information. 

RFS Waiver Requests

In a separate Federal Register Notice, EPA is seeking comment on petitions for a waiver of the 

renewable fuel standards that would apply in 2014. The American Petroleum Institute (API) 

and the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) submitted a joint petition 

to the Administrator, dated August 13, 2013, on behalf of their members requesting a partial 

waiver of the 2014 applicable volumes under the RFS. Subsequently, several refining companies 

submitted individual petitions that also request a waiver. Section 211(o)(7)(A) of 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 implementation of those requirements 

would severely harm the economy or environment of a State, a region, or the United States, 

or if the Administrator determines that there is inadequate domestic supply of renewable fuel. 

EPA recognizes that there is significant overlap in the supporting data and issues raised in the 
Regulatory Announcement

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petitions for a waiver and EPA’s rulemaking to set the RFS percentage standards for 2014, and 

EPA requests that comments on the waiver petitions be submitted in the same time frame as 

comments on the rulemaking proposal. In light of the overlap in issues between the rulemaking 

proposal and petitions for waiver, EPA expects that our determination on the substance of the 

petitions for a waiver of the 2014 statutory volumes will be issued at the same time that EPA 

issues a final rule establishing the 2014 RFS standards.

For More Information 

For more information on this proposal, please visit the RFS website at:

www.epa.gov/otaq/fuels/renewablefuels

To submit a question on the RFS program, and to view Frequently Asked Questions, please visit:

www.epa.gov/otaq/fuels/renewablefuels/compliancehelp/index.htm