Appeals court tosses lower biofuels levels set in 2015

A federal appeals court says the Environmental Protection Agency cannot limit the targets in the national Renewable Fuel Standard based on factors such as demand. Renewable fuel advocates praised the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia's ruling, which could prompt a revision of the Trump administration's proposals earlier this year to mostly maintain current requirements for biofuel production.The ruling dealt with targets set by the EPA during the Obama administration. The court dismissed several challenges to those targets but upheld an argument by the advocacy group Americans for Clean Energy that the EPA overstepped its authority under the laws requiring it to set numbers for renewable fuel use."The term 'inadequate domestic supply' refers to the supply of renewable fuel available to refiners, blenders, and importers to meet the statutory volume requirements" and not other market considerations, the court wrote. The EPA should reconsider its reduction of the total renewable fuel volume requirements, a unanimous three-judge panel said.