WASHINGTON, D.C. – A coalition of six national farm and commodity groups recently sent a letter to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, urging the agency to establish “robust, timely Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) volumes for 2026 and beyond.”

In the March 17 letter, Clean Fuels Alliance America, the American Farm Bureau Federation, the American Soybean Association, the National Oilseed Processors Association, the North American Renderers Association and the U.S. Canola Association, urged the EPA to propose and finalize the 2026 biomass-based diesel volume at 5.25 billion gallons, along with a “commensurate (corresponding in size, extent, amount, or degree) increase in the advanced biofuel volume.”

“Setting these volumes for 2026 and establishing consistent growth for 2027 and beyond, based on the industry’s investments and projections, will ensure that American consumers can access affordable and clean transportation options,” the letter said. “These volumes will support farm security, create jobs and economic opportunity, and further President Trump’s goal for U.S. energy dominance.”

The North American Renderers Association said, “Projections from the U.S. Energy Information Administration indicate that U.S. biodiesel and renewable diesel production will exceed 5.4 billion gallons in 2026, with total domestic production, including sustainable aviation fuel and other advanced biofuels, expected to surpass 6 billion gallons.”

Kurt Kovarik, Clean Fuels Alliance America vice president of federal affairs, said production of biodiesel and renewable diesel has doubled in the last few years, following investments in new capacity, as well as in feedstock collection and processing.

“The EPA needs to make a step-change (a two-step process that improves efficiency and addresses challenges like high free fatty acid content in feedstocks) in the RFS volumes for biomass-based diesel and advanced biofuels to account for proven production capacity, and to support continued investment and economic growth,” he said.

Paul Winters, Clean Fuels Alliance America director of public affairs and federal communications, told Farm World, “Biodiesel and renewable diesel markets are essential to farm security and prosperity. Farmers have invested billions over the past few years to build U.S. markets through domestic oilseed processing and renewable diesel capacity.

“Growth of the ethanol sector creates a new raw material – distillers corn oil – for biodiesel, renewable diesel, and renewable jet,” he said. “This new value-added resource has been a real difference-maker for the U.S. ethanol industry in terms of their prosperity. Robust RFS volumes across the board will be good for farmers. It will also save consumers money at the pump.”

He also discussed the Department of Justice’s latest legal arguments in response to Clean Fuels Alliance America’s lawsuit over “the EPA’s failure to meet last November’s deadline for finalizing the 2026 RFS volumes.”

“Renewable Fuel Standard volumes, by statute, must be set 14 months before the compliance year,” he said. “That means the final 2026 volumes were due by November 2024. Without this timely notice, biofuel producers do not have sufficient information to plan feedstock purchases, and other investments to increase production and meet the program goals. The good news in the latest Department of Justice filing is that they seem to recognize this is a real deadline, not an alleged deadline.

“Nonetheless, the Department of Justice’s lawyers continue to claim that the EPA had not actually missed any deadline or required action when Clean Fuels Alliance America gave notice of an intent to sue,” he added.

He said, “To meet the November deadline for a final 2026 rule, the EPA would have had to propose the rule by summer 2024. Instead of the proposal, the EPA issued a public notice that they would not propose the rule until March 2025. Clean Fuels Alliance America gave notice to the Department of Justice and the EPA, based on the clear lack of action needed to meet the deadline.”

Betty Resnick, American Farm Bureau Federation economist, told Farm World, “For the past few years, the Renewable Fuel Standard’s Renewable Volume Obligations (RVOs) (which the EPA is responsible in setting) has been set too low as compared to production of biomass-based diesels, which needs to be rectified when setting RVOs for 2026 and subsequent years.”

RVOs are targets set by the EPA for obligated parties (i.e., fuel refiners, blenders, and importers) to ensure a specific volume of renewable fuels is blended into the transportation fuel supply.

“For biomass-based diesel to continue to expand and bring new demand for U.S. farmer’s soybean, canola, and corn oil, and rancher’s tallow (the rendered fat, predominantly, of cattle and sheep), the RVO must be raised to meet the capacity in the marketplace,” she said.

When asked what impact this will ultimately have on U.S. farmers, she said, “Setting an adequate RVO for biomass-based diesel, and also the advanced biofuel category that includes sustainable aviation fuel, will bolster demand in these critical and developing biofuel categories. This is especially crucial for soybeans, which are quite export-dependent, at a moment of high-trade uncertainty.”