1. Ask for comment on how to account for carryover RINs in methodology.

“...Were unforeseen circumstances to occur, the only flexibility remaining to avoid 

noncompliance would be a waiver of the RFS standards under our general authority 

(beyond that being proposed today). This process requires notice and comment and 

thus could be delayed beyond the time period during which the unforeseen 

circumstances were occurring. For this reason, we have not accounted for 

carryover RINs in our assessment of the reductions in the statutory volume 

requirements that would be appropriate in setting the RFS standards for 2014. For 

years after 2014, if circumstances differ substantially from those described here for 

2013 and 2014, or if further analysis of the RINs market suggests additional 

adjustments, we may again consider the existence of carryover RINs in the 

standard-setting process depending on the number of carryover RINs expected to 

be available and projections of supply and consumption of renewable fuels. We ask 

for comment on whether and how to account for carryover RINs in selecting 

reasonably attainable standards.

2. Add discussion of how RIN prices provide incentives:

“...Therefore we believe that 400 mill gal is a reasonable upper end of the range of 

possible volumes of E85 for 2014. However, we acknowledge that the volume of 

E85 sold into the market is likely also a function of the blendwall and to the extent 

that the proposed volumes lead to lower RIN prices, the incentives for fuel vendors 

to market E85 and other blends of ethanol above E10 will may also be lower. We do 

not know the extent to which lower RIN prices will result in diminished incentives 

for those higher blends, but request comment and data from the public that would 

help estimate the impact of lowering volumetric requirements on the incentive to 

sell higher ethanol blends than E10...”

3. Add a suggestion of how additional data might be used to select from within the 

range. The proposed rule sets the biodiesel mandate at 1.28 bgal for 2014 and 

2015. The capacity for biodiesel domestic production is around 2 bgal. Current 

production suggests that with a blenders credit and current advanced biofuel 

mandate, biodiesel production would be above 1.28 bgal. We suggest that you ask 

for comment on how the advanced mandate may be adjusted in the final rule or in 

the 2015 rule to allow for more biodiesel if it is “reasonably attainable”. 
“...In today's NPRM, we are proposing to use the mean value for the final volume 

requirement for total renewable fuel because we believe it best represents a neutral 

aim at renewable fuel volumes that could reasonably be supplied. However, we 

request comment on whether there are data or analysis that would suggest that one 

of the alternative values shown in Table IV.B.4-3 would be more appropriate as the 

basis for the required volume of total renewable fuel in the final rule. For example, 

additional data used to determine the appropriate value in the final rule might 

include updated projections of motorfuel demand, new biofuel laws in the US or 

countries that export biofuels to the US, new data on the blendwall, or the 

availability of surplus RIN stocks from over-compliance in previous years...”

4. Signaling 2015 is important for investment decisions. Similarly, keeping flexibility 

for increasing the mandates is important if the 2014 levels are set too low to keep existing 

capacity under operation. We would not like to strand previous investments in biofuel 

infrastructure because of poor projections in an earlier year. One indicator of that would 

be how obligated parties manage surplus RINs. If excess RIN stocks as a percentage of 

the total mandate are increasing that would indicate that the mandates have been set too 

low. 

“...E. Volume Requirements for 2015

The issues concerning availability of qualifying renewable fuels and the 

ethanol blendwall that provided the impetus for the approach described above will 

continue to be relevant in 2015 and beyond. We would intend to propose the same 

general approach in determining appropriate volume requirements for 2015 and 

beyond as we have in today's proposed rule, subject to potential adjustments to that 

approach based on comments received in response to this NPRM. We would also 

use the most recently available information to update the projected range of 

potential volumes in each of these areas:

• Changes to motorfuel demand

Volume of E15 - E85 that could be consumed

• Available volumes of cellulosic biofuel

• Available volumes of biomass-based diesel

• Available volumes of advanced biofuel

• Available volumes of non-advanced renewable fuel

Changes to stocks of RINs held in excess of mandated volumes...”