The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has made decisions on 16 Small Refinery Exemption (SRE) petitions from eight refineries seeking exemptions from Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) obligations for the years 2021 to 2024. This action is part of the agency's ongoing efforts to restore the RFS program.
The EPA, in consultation with the Department of Energy (DOE), reviewed information submitted by each small refinery. The evaluations were conducted in accordance with the Clean Air Act and relevant case law. As a result, two petitions received full exemptions, 12 were granted partial exemptions, and two were denied.
The agency has updated its SRE website to reflect these decisions. This announcement aligns with previous actions taken on August 22, 2025, concerning 175 SRE petitions from 38 refineries. The EPA is maintaining its policy of returning Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) for compliance when a small refinery receives an exemption for a prior year.
While no RINs will be returned immediately, affected parties are advised to contact the EPA Fuels Program Helpdesk to start the return process. With most old petitions addressed, the EPA aims to work with DOE on new petitions within a 90-day review period.
On September 16, 2025, the EPA issued a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking considering impacts from recent SRE decisions. The agency is reviewing comments as it works on final regulations for the "Set 2" rule and plans to update projections of exempted gasoline and diesel volumes based on new SREs.
For more details, visit EPA’s RFS program website.
Information from this article can be found here.
