Bipartisan Group Of Legislators Applaud EPA For Looking Into Flawed RFS

Statement

Representatives Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Jim Costa (D-CA), Peter Welch (D-VT), and Steve Womack (R-AR) released the following statement regarding the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Inspector General research into lifecycle impacts of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS):

"We are pleased that the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Inspector General (IG) is looking into the effectiveness of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). While we believe the RFS was implemented with good intentions, the reality is that, given current conditions, the policy is flawed and is in need of reform. The current RFS has surpassed a sustainable state and is hurting American consumers, energy producers, livestock and poultry producers, food manufacturers, and retailers. The negative impacts of the RFS are known, and it is our hope that the IG's report provides much-needed clarity to the conflicting information the EPA has shared regarding the benefits of the RFS."

In February 2015, Reps. Costa, Goodlatte, Welch, and Womack introduced H.R. 704, the RFS Reform Act. The RFS Reform Act eliminates the corn-based ethanol requirement, caps the amount of ethanol that can be blended into conventional gasoline at 10 percent, and requires the EPA to set cellulosic biofuels levels at production levels.