Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/20pdf/20-472_0pm1.pdf
Page Number: 3.0

Cite as:  594 U. S. ____ (2021) 

3 

Syllabus 

scheme and that any exemptions were meant to end rapidly.  They note 
that subparagraph (A) is titled “temporary exemption,” that it was per-
mitted  to  expire  in  2013,  and  that  subparagraph  (B)(i) speaks  of  ex-
tending “the exemption under subparagraph (A).”  Context, however, 
suggests subparagraph (B) is not part of some sunset scheme.  Subpar-
agraph (A)(ii)’s exemptions did not have to expire in 2013; they could 
have lasted indefinitely.  Subparagraph (B)(i)’s “at any time” language 
expressly contemplates exemptions beyond 2013.  That looks nothing
like readymade examples of sunset schemes, which Congress eschewed
here.  E.g., §247d–7f(b).  Finally, even on respondents’ reading, a small 
refinery  with  an  unbroken  record  of  failing  to  comply  with  the  RFP 
may continue to seek and obtain extensions forever.  Pp. 11–12. 

(c) In  an  appeal  to  public  policy,  respondents  argue  that  subpara-
graph (B) was adopted to “funnel small refineries toward compliance 
over time” and that enforcing a continuity requirement helps advance 
that goal.  Consistent with that view, the Tenth Circuit concluded the 
number of small refinery exemptions “should have tapered down” over
time.  Petitioners counter that the statute seeks to increase production 
of renewable fuel while offering an annual “safety valve” for small re-
fineries.  Neither the statute’s text, structure, nor history affords suf-
ficient  guidance  to  choose  between  these  competing  narratives  and 
metaphors.  Instead, the analysis can be guided only by the statute’s
text—and that nowhere commands a continuity requirement.  Pp. 12– 
16. 

948 F. 3d 1206, reversed. 

GORSUCH,  J.,  delivered  the  opinion  of  the  Court,  in  which  ROBERTS, 
C. J.,  and  THOMAS,  BREYER,  ALITO,  and  KAVANAUGH,  JJ.,  joined.  BAR-
RETT, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which SOTOMAYOR and KAGAN, JJ., 
joined.