[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 180 (Tuesday, November 12, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6503-S6504]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SMALL REFINERY WAIVERS AND ETHANOL
Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, on behalf of the corn and soybean
farmers in my State, I object to ``small refinery relief language'' in
the fiscal year 2020 Interior appropriations bill that suggests that
the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, disregard Department of
Energy determinations on small refinery hardships. The provision
encourages EPA to continue allowing refiners to stop blending biofuels
with no transparency or evidence of hardship.
Fourteen years ago in this Chamber, I helped enact the renewable
fuels standard, RFS, which required petroleum-based vehicle fuels to
include a minimum volume of ethanol and biodiesel in them. Both fuels
are produced from corn and soybeans, driving economic activity
throughout Illinois and the Midwest.
The law has been a tremendous success. We have created new markets
for corn and soybeans and helped supply motorists with affordable fuel.
We have provided a greener alternative to MTBE and other additives. And
now the United States is the world's largest producer of ethanol,
generating commerce and creating jobs, both on and off the farm.
In fact, I can hardly think of a national policy in this generation
that has achieved greater success for rural economic growth than
biofuels. In the wake of the gasoline shortages of the 1970s, the farm
financial crisis of the 1980s, the clean air discussions of the 1990s,
the oil price spikes of the 2000s, and rural economic conditions of
today, biofuels became part of the solution. For more than 40 years,
farmers and policymakers built an industry unique to the heartland of
this country.
Yet in just 2 years, President Trump has wrestled American biofuels
to its knees. He singlehandedly has delivered one crippling blow after
another. Each action he has taken contributes to the gradual
dismantling of this enterprise. With his involvement, or outright
neglect, ethanol prices, profits, and blending are the lowest in
history, and thousands of rural jobs have been lost.
The President claims his support for ethanol and biodiesel is strong.
I say: believe it when you see it. Because when this President issues
declarations of victory on biofuels, facilities stay shuttered and the
markets stay stalled.
Congressional frustration on this topic is bipartisan and growing,
although some farm State lawmakers and interests still stare at their
shoes while a President who shares their political affiliation burns
this industry to the ground. Long after the alarm bells were ringing
and klaxons were sounding, those who should have known better at the
outset, whose earlier responses were accolades, now find themselves at
path's end, hoodwinked.
As a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, I pressed the EPA to
approve E15, a 15 percent blend of ethanol in gasoline, for year-round
sales as soon as possible. And I applauded that final decision in June.
For Illinois, E15 could boost 14 ethanol facilities and 20,000
downstate jobs. For motorists, E15 could save up to 10 cents per
gallon.
But pull back the curtain, and the President has allowed EPA to issue
85 secret waivers that allow oil refineries to stop blending biofuels
into gasoline. Economists have confirmed that shatters demand for E15.
Waivers mean that E15 is a fake victory by President Trump.
After increasing pressure and outcry, on October 4, President Trump
publicized an agreement ostensibly designed to restore the lost ethanol
demand caused by his waivers back to the 15 billion gallon floor--even
16 billion gallons, claimed the President. Ten days later, the Trump
administration stunned observers by publishing details that watered
down these numbers and slashed the ethanol deal by half, while
stakeholders were coached that nothing has changed.
The language in the Interior appropriations bill suggests that EPA
continue to thumb its nose at corn and soybean producers while issuing
small oil refinery waivers. Meanwhile, Big Oil is doing just fine. In
May, the Department of Energy reported that net income for top U.S. oil
companies like Exxon and Chevron has totaled $28 billion, the most
profitable in five years. For farmers, however, net income has
plummeted 50 percent from its record highs during the Obama
administration.
For years, farmers and policymakers of multiple backgrounds and
persuasions have come together, in good faith, to carefully build a new
industry that benefits consumers, farmers, and rural residents. This
pioneering innovation is rooted in the heritage of rural values, all in
jeopardy of crumbling because the void between this President's words
and acts.
I urge my colleagues to work to support rural America by ending EPA's
efforts to issue these waivers without any concern for transparency or
economic impact.
Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I support the sentiments of my colleague
from Illinois in objecting to the ``small refinery relief'' language in
the fiscal year 2020 Interior appropriations bill. In the past, this
language has been invoked by the Trump administration's
[[Page S6504]]
Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, to disregard the Department of
Energy's recommendations regarding small refinery hardships under the
renewable fuel standard, RFS, and waive additional gallons of renewable
fuels from our fuel supply. These actions, permitted by President
Trump, hurt rural America and our farmers.
The RFS is an important driver of Michigan jobs and our bio-based
economy. This Administration's continued abuse of refinery waivers
undermine the integrity of the RFS program and hurt our farmers,
biofuel producers, and rural communities in Michigan and across the
country. I strongly oppose this report language and encourage my
colleagues to support rural America's interests by calling to end the
Trump administration's abuse of small refinery exemptions.
Ms. SMITH. Mr. President, I would like to add my support to the
statement given by my colleague from Illinois. On behalf of the corn
and soybean farmers in my State and on behalf of the biofuel industry
in my State, I strongly oppose the ``small refinery relief'' language
in the fiscal year 2020 Interior appropriations bill. This ``relief
language'' will allow the EPA to continue to exempt refiners from
blending biofuels without any evidence of actual hardship.
Small refinery waivers from the EPA are wreaking havoc on our
Nation's rural economy. Across the country, ethanol plants and
biodiesel plants are halting production or being forced to shut down.
These biofuel plants often are the local cornerstone of the community,
supporting thousands of rural jobs across the country, and serving as
important markets for farmers to process millions of bushels of corn,
soybeans, and other commodities. Farmers are struggling after years of
low prices, extreme weather and a chaotic trade agenda, and instead of
providing certainty and relief for our farmers, this administration
chose to destroy more markets and further harm rural communities.
The problems caused by small-refinery waiver abuse are seen across
the upper Midwest, but they hit the agricultural communities in my
state of Minnesota particularly hard. Two months ago, the Corn Plus
ethanol plant in Winnebago closed. When I traveled there, I talked to
farmers and community members and heard directly about how the loss of
that facility will impact their lives. The Corn Plus plant closed, but
throughout Minnesota ethanol plants are idling and cutting back,
impacting workers and hurting local farmers. For example, a recent
Renewable Fuels Association analysis of the impact of idling at the
Green Plains plant in Fairmont, MN, found that local corn prices were
reduced, leading to an $8.4 million loss for local farmers who
typically sell to the plant.
Last week, Tim Rudnicki, executive director for the Minnesota Bio-
Fuels Association traveled to Michigan to testify at the EPA public
hearing on their wholly inadequate Trump administration proposed
``fix'' to the waiver abuse problems. In Mr. Rudnicki's remarks, he
said that the current EPA is ``driving renewable biofuels backwards and
toward the cliff.'' I couldn't agree more. This has to stop, and
Congress needs to make it stop because it has become clear that the
current Administration has put big oil ahead of our farmers and our
rural communities.
In the wake of the EPA's continued efforts to undercut the integrity
of the RFS by misusing its waiver authority, I urge my colleagues to
support this country's rural communities by ending the EPA's abuse of
the small refinery exemptions.
Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I join my colleagues today in
expressing my opposition to the language in the fiscal year 2020
Interior appropriations bill related to the Environmental Protection
Agency's ability to issue small refinery waivers under the renewable
fuel standard without taking into account the Department of Energy's
recommendations.
The Trump administration continues to undermine the renewable fuel
standard by granting small refinery waivers to multi-billion-dollar oil
companies. Since the beginning of the administration, a total of 85
waivers have been issued, reducing demand for more than 4 billion
gallons of renewable fuel. That is why I have repeatedly called on the
Trump administration to stop issuing any further waivers, immediately
reallocate the remaining gallons, and make public the information
regarding any recipients of these exemptions.
We need more transparency and openness about the Environmental
Protection Agency's, EPA, use of small refinery waivers--who is
applying for and receiving them, how are they documenting their
economic hardship, and how is EPA considering that hardship in the
context of interagency recommendations. The ``small refinery relief''
provision in the appropriations bill will allow EPA to avoid answering
these questions and continue issuing waivers without providing evidence
of hardship.
It is for this reason that I am opposed to the ``small refinery
relief'' language in the fiscal year 2020 Interior appropriations bill.
While the administration must cease issuing any further improper
refinery exemptions, as I have been calling for since these abuses
began, we can start supporting our farmers and rural communities by
removing this harmful provision from the Interior appropriations bill
during conference negotiations. Especially at a time when they are
facing trade uncertainty, low prices, and difficult weather, our
farmers deserve better.
____________________