The soybean and biomass-based diesel industries are responding to EPA’s latest Small Refinery Exemption (SRE) announcement with a clear message: protect the integrity of the Renewable Fuel Standard and ensure that exempted volumes are fully reallocated.
EPA recently granted full or partial exemptions to 29 small refineries for the 2025 compliance year, removing approximately 1.76 billion RINs from their Renewable Fuel Standard obligations. While the scale of the exemptions has raised significant concerns across agriculture and the biofuels industry, EPA has also committed to pursuing supplemental rulemaking to restore the additional exempted volumes through the 2026 and 2027 RFS.
That commitment is critical for soybean farmers and America’s biodiesel, renewable diesel, and sustainable aviation fuel industries.
The American Soybean Association estimates that without full reallocation, the exemptions could reduce biomass-based diesel demand by approximately 500 million gallons and cost soybean farmers nearly $1 billion in revenue. ASA welcomed EPA’s commitment to 100% reallocation while emphasizing that timing matters and urging the agency to move quickly.
Clean Fuels Alliance America similarly expressed disappointment with the number of exemptions while welcoming the administration’s commitment to hold biofuel producers harmless. The organization emphasized the investments producers have made to meet growing RFS volumes and called for EPA to quickly follow through on its promised supplemental rulemaking.
The takeaway from across the industry is clear: SREs cannot be allowed to translate into lost demand for American-grown, American-made fuels.
Biodiesel and other biomass-based diesel fuels create an important domestic market for soybean oil, support rural jobs and investment, strengthen U.S. energy security, and provide fleets with lower-carbon fuel options available today.
Full and timely reallocation will be essential to maintaining that momentum and providing the market certainty farmers, fuel producers, and their customers need.
Notice: The Michigan Advanced Biofuels Coalition (MiABC) does not lobby or influence policy in any way. The policy interests of Michigan soybean farmers and biodiesel producers are supported by the Michigan Soybean Association and Clean Fuels Alliance America, respectively. All posts are shared for educational purposes only.
Notice: The Michigan Advanced Biofuels Coalition (MiABC) does not lobby or influence policy in any way. The policy interests of Michigan soybean farmers and biodiesel producers are supported by the Michigan Soybean Association and Clean Fuels Alliance America, respectively. This post is for educational purposes only.
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