(RFA) Growth Energy and The Renewable Fuels Association this week filed a lawsuit in federal district court, alleging that the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy have improperly denied agency records requested by Growth Energy, RFA, and others under the Freedom of Information Act. The requested documents relate to exemptions from Renewable Fuel Standard compliance obligations granted by EPA. “The EPA should come clean and provide the public with what it deserves – a full accounting of the stark increase in the number of small refinery exemptions it has granted in recent years,” said Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor. “We deserve to know why EPA has supercharged its approvals of these exemptions without reallocating lost gallons and making sure that RFS volumes are met each year.” Growth Energy and RFA are the named plaintiffs in the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Both Growth Energy and RFA have submitted several records requests dating back to April 2018 seeking information related to exemptions from the RFS that EPA has granted to small refineries in complete secrecy. EPA and DOE have failed to act within the timeframes required by FOIA and have improperly withheld the requested documents. By filing this lawsuit now, Growth Energy, RFA, and their allies in the renewable fuel industry aim to increase transparency and foster better oversight of EPA’s use of small refinery exemptions.
