Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) Program: Standards for 2026 and 2027, Partial Waiver of 2025 Cellulosic Biofuel Volume Requirement, and Other Changes; Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY <CFR>40 CFR Parts 80 and 1090</CFR> <DEPDOC>[EPA-HQ-OAR-2024-0505; FRL-11947-03-OAR]</DEPDOC> <RIN>RIN 2060-AW23</RIN> <SUBJECT>Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) Program: Standards for 2026 and 2027, Partial Waiver of 2025 Cellulosic Biofuel Volume Requirement, and Other Changes; Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Supplemental proposed rule. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> On June 17, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed volumes and percentage standards for four categories of renewable fuel that would apply to obligated parties in 2026 and 2027 under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program. On August 22, 2025, the EPA issued decisions on 175 small refinery exemption (SRE) petitions under the RFS program. This supplemental proposal takes into consideration the expected impacts of the SRE decisions issued. Based on this information, the EPA is co-proposing additional volumes in 2026 and 2027 representing complete (100 percent) reallocation and 50 percent reallocation for SREs granted in full or in part for 2023 and 2024, as well as those projected to be granted for 2025, as part of the ongoing RFS rulemaking. The EPA is also providing more information on its projection of SREs to inform the calculation of the 2026 and 2027 percentage standards. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> <E T="03">Comments.</E> Comments must be received on or before October 31, 2025. <E T="03">Public hearing:</E> The EPA will hold a virtual public hearing on October 1, 2025. Please refer to the <E T="02"> SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION </E> section for additional information on the public hearing. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> <E T="03">Comments.</E> Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2024-0505, at <E T="03">http://www.regulations.gov.</E> Follow the online instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or removed from the docket. The EPA may publish any comment received to its public docket. Do not submit to the EPA's docket at <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov</E> any information you consider to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be accompanied by a written comment. The written comment is considered the official comment and should include discussion of all points you wish to make. The EPA will generally not consider comments or comment contents located outside of the primary submission ( <E T="03">i.e.,</E> on the web, cloud, or other file sharing system). Please visit <E T="03">https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets</E> for additional submission methods; the full EPA public comment policy; information about CBI or multimedia submissions; and general guidance on making effective comments. <E T="03">Public hearing.</E> The virtual public hearing will be held on October 1, 2025. The hearing will begin at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) and end when all parties who wish to speak have had an opportunity to do so. All hearing attendees (including even those who do not intend to provide testimony) should register for the virtual public hearing by September 24, 2025. Information on how to register can be found at <E T="03">https://www.epa.gov/renewable-fuel-standard-program/proposed-renewable-fuel-standards-2026-and-2027-supplemental-notice.</E> Additional information regarding the hearing appears below under <E T="02">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION</E> . <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> For information about this supplemental proposed rule, contact Dallas Burkholder, Assessment and Standards Division, Office of Transportation and Air Quality, Environmental Protection Agency, 2000 Traverwood Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48105; telephone number: (734) 214-4766; email address: <E T="03">RFS-Rulemakings@epa.gov.</E> For questions regarding the public hearing, contact Nick Parsons at <E T="03">RFS-Hearing@epa.gov.</E> </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <E T="03">Does this action apply to me?</E> Entities potentially affected by this action are those involved with the production, distribution, and sale of transportation fuels ( <E T="03">e.g.,</E> gasoline and diesel fuel) and renewable fuels ( <E T="03">e.g.,</E> ethanol, biodiesel, renewable diesel, and biogas). Potentially affected categories include: <GPOTABLE COLS="3" OPTS="L2,nj,tp0,i1" CDEF="s50,10,r150"> <TTITLE> </TTITLE> <CHED H="1">Category</CHED> <CHED H="1">Examples of potentially affected entities</CHED> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Industry</ENT> <ENT>111110</ENT> <ENT>Soybean farming.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Industry</ENT> <ENT>111150</ENT> <ENT>Corn farming.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Industry</ENT> <ENT>112111</ENT> <ENT>Cattle farming or ranching.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Industry</ENT> <ENT>112210</ENT> <ENT>Swine, hog, and pig farming.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Industry</ENT> <ENT>211130</ENT> <ENT>Natural gas liquids extraction and fractionation.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Industry</ENT> <ENT>221210</ENT> <ENT>Natural gas production and distribution.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Industry</ENT> <ENT>324110</ENT> <ENT>Petroleum refineries (including importers).</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Industry</ENT> <ENT>325120</ENT> <ENT> Biogases, industrial ( <E T="03">i.e.,</E> compressed, liquified, solid), manufacturing. </ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Industry</ENT> <ENT>325193</ENT> <ENT>Ethyl alcohol manufacturing.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Industry</ENT> <ENT>325199</ENT> <ENT>Other basic organic chemical manufacturing.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Industry</ENT> <ENT>424690</ENT> <ENT>Chemical and allied products merchant wholesalers.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Industry</ENT> <ENT>424710</ENT> <ENT>Petroleum bulk stations and terminals.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Industry</ENT> <ENT>424720</ENT> <ENT>Petroleum and petroleum products wholesalers.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Industry</ENT> <ENT>457210</ENT> <ENT>Fuel dealers.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Industry</ENT> <ENT>562212</ENT> <ENT>Landfills.</ENT> </ROW> <TNOTE> <SU>a</SU>  North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). </TNOTE> </GPOTABLE> This table is not intended to be exhaustive, but rather provides a guide for readers regarding entities potentially affected by this action. This table lists the types of entities that the EPA is currently aware could potentially be affected by this action. Other types of entities not listed in the table could also be affected. To determine whether your entity would be affected by this action, you should carefully examine the applicability criteria in 40 CFR part 80. If you have any questions regarding the applicability of this action to a particular entity, consult the person listed in the <E T="02">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT</E> section. <E T="03">Participation in virtual public hearing.</E> Information on how to register for the virtual public hearing can be found at <E T="03">https://www.epa.gov/renewable-fuel-standard-program/proposed-renewable-fuel-standards-2026-and-2027-supplemental-notice.</E> The last day to pre-register to speak at the hearing is September 29, 2025. Please note that any updates made to any aspect of the hearing will be posted online at <E T="03">https://www.epa.gov/renewable-fuel-standard-program/proposed-renewable-fuel-standards-2026-and-2027-supplemental-notice.</E> While the EPA expects the hearing to go forward as set forth above, please monitor the website or contact the person listed in the <E T="02">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT</E> section to determine if there are any updates. The EPA does not intend to publish a document in the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> announcing updates. Subject to the number of signups and time constraints, the EPA intends that each participant will have three minutes to provide oral testimony. The EPA may ask clarifying questions during the oral presentations but will not respond to the presentations at that time. Written statements and supporting information submitted during the comment period will be considered with the same weight as oral comments and supporting information presented at the public hearing. If you require the services of a translator or special accommodations such as audio description, please pre-register for the hearing and describe your needs by September 29, 2025. The EPA may not be able to arrange accommodations without advance notice. <E T="03">Preamble acronyms and abbreviations.</E> Throughout this document the use of “we,” “us,” or “our” is intended to refer to the EPA. We use multiple acronyms and terms in this preamble. While this list may not be exhaustive, to ease the reading of this preamble and for reference purposes, the EPA defines the following terms and acronyms here: <EXTRACT> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">AEO Annual Energy Outlook</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">BBD biomass-based diesel</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">CAA Clean Air Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">EIA Energy Information Administration</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">EMTS EPA Moderated Transaction System</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">RFS Renewable Fuel Standard</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">RIN Renewable Identification Number</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">RVO Renewable Volume Obligation</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">SRE small refinery exemption</FP> </EXTRACT> <E T="03">Organization of this document.</E> The information in this preamble is organized as follows: <EXTRACT> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">I. Executive Summary</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 70k characters. Full document text is stored and available for version comparison. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━