Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/20pdf/20-472_0pm1.pdf
Page Number: 23.0

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HOLLYFRONTIER CHEYENNE REFINING, LLC v. 
RENEWABLE FUELS ASSN. 
BARRETT, J., dissenting 

rather, it permits EPA to grant an “extension of the exemp-
tion under subparagraph (A).”  §7545(o)(9)(B)(i) (emphasis
added).  What is being “extended,” then, is “the exemption 
under subparagraph (A)”—a discrete, time-limited period of 
permissible noncompliance with the RFP.  And when used 
in  this  context,  the  noun  “extension”  means  an  “addition 
that  increases  the  . . .  operation  . . .  of  something,”  “a
stretching out or stretching forth: a carrying forward,” or “a
part that is added to something to enlarge or prolong it; a 
continuation.”2    The  verb  “extend”  is  similarly  defined:  It
means  “[t]o  cause  (something)  to  be  or  last  longer,”  to
“lengthen,  elongate,  prolong,  protract,”  or  “[t]o  prolong  in
duration.”3 

The Court acknowledges these definitions, yet still par-
rots HollyFrontier’s point that no definition of “extend” re-
quires  “unbroken  continuity.”    Ante,  at  6.  But  without 
something that presently exists, there is nothing to “carr[y]
forward” or “prolong.”  The word “extension,” then, plainly
contemplates  a  “continuation  of  the  same”  thing  as  cur-
rently exists—in contrast to the term “renewal,” for exam-
ple, which refers to a “restoring” or “reestablishing” of some-
thing that used to exist.  Compare Black’s Law Dictionary 
622 (8th ed. 2004), with id., at 1322.  Or, to put it slightly 
differently,  the  word  “extension”  “ ‘[i]mports  the  continu-
ance of an existing thing.’ ”  Brief for Federal Respondent 21
(quoting W. Anderson, A Dictionary of Law 437 (1996)). 

Common usage confirms as much.  Consider a hotel guest 
who  decides  to  spend  a  few  more  days  on  vacation.    That 
guest  likely  would  ask  to  “extend  [her]  visit.”    Random 
House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 684 (2d ed. 2001) 

—————— 

2 American  Heritage  Dictionary  628  (4th  ed.  2000);  Webster’s  Third 
New International Dictionary 804 (2002); New Oxford American Diction-
ary 596 (2d ed. 2005). 

3 American Heritage Dictionary, at 628; Webster’s Third New Interna-
tional Dictionary, at 804 (capitalization deleted); 5 Oxford English Dic-
tionary 594 (2d ed. 1989).