A federal court Friday threw out a lawsuit by biofuel groups that want EPA to boost biofuel-blending mandates to make up for the exemptions it grants some refineries.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit found the complaint by Clean Fuel Alliance America and Growth Energy moot, as it was based on biofuel volume regulations set in 2020 and later superseded by new annual requirements.
In setting the case aside, the court declined to rule on the main question the groups posed: whether EPA, when it grants refineries exemptions from the blending requirement, must make up for the lost volumes by reassigning them across remaining facilities in a subsequent year. Doing so would ensure that the agency meets the total annual volume required through annual rulemaking, the biofuel groups say.
That issue, Judge Bradley Garcia wrote for the court, could be addressed in a future case, if timely. The court allowed parties to request a rehearing, temporarily putting Friday’s decision on hold.
