Renewable Fuel Annual Standards

The Clean Air Act requires EPA to set annual volume requirements under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program for four categories of renewable fuel. The annual standards are based on statutory targets through 2022, which EPA must evaluate and in some cases adjust. After 2022, EPA must establish or ‘‘set’’ the volume targets after considering a number of statutory factors.

EPA establishes the standards through a notice-and-comment rulemaking process with opportunity for public comment and stakeholder engagement.

• Through 2022, the standards must be finalized by November 30th of the year preceding the compliance year.
• After 2022, EPA must determine the applicable volumes at least 14 months prior to the year in which the volume will be required.

The RFS program’s four renewable fuel standards are nested within each other. This means that a fuel with a higher GHG reduction threshold can be used to meet the standards for a lower GHG reduction threshold. For example, fuels or RINs for advanced biofuel (e.g., cellulosic, biodiesel, or sugarcane ethanol) can be used to meet the total renewable fuel standard (e.g., corn ethanol).

The table below provides the annual volume standards that have been finalized.