EPA denies Texas request to waiver ethanol mandates.On August 7, 2008, Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), independent agency of the U.S. government, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1970 to reduce and control air and water pollution, noise pollution, and radiation and to ensure the safe handling and (EPA EPA eicosapentaenoic acid. EPA abbr. eicosapentaenoic acid EPA, n.pr See acid, eicosapentaenoic. EPA, n. ) administrator Stephen L. Johnson announced EPA's decision to deny the State of Texas' petition for a waiver to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS (Remote File System) A distributed file system for Unix computers introduced by AT&T in 1986 with Unix System V Release 3.0. It is similar to Sun's NFS, but only for Unix systems. ). In April 2008, Texas Governor Rick Perry James Richard Perry (b. March 4, 1950) is a Republican politician and the Governor of Texas. He assumed office in December 2000 when then-Governor George W. Bush resigned to prepare for his inauguration as President of the United States. Gov. officially asked the EPA to exercise its authority to modify RFS ethanol production mandates. Citing rising corn costs and other economic factors, Perry requested a 50% nationwide waiver which would keep 2008 ethanol production at the 2007 level. After receiving the request, EPA solicited public comment on the ethanol issue and received over 15,000 responses, including AFFI's statement endorsing the Texas petition. At the end of July, Johnson stated EPA needed more time to examine the comments and research the issues. When announcing the decision to deny Texas' request, Johnson clarified that the RFS granted EPA authority to waive To intentionally or voluntarily relinquish a known right or engage in conduct warranting an inference that a right has been surrendered. For example, an individual is said to waive the right to bring a tort action when he or she renounces the remedy provided by law for such ethanol mandates if they were shown to be causing "severe economic or environmental harm." After much study and consulting with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Energy Department, the EPA determined that RFS is not causing economic harm at a level justifying a waiver. The 2007 mandated production level for renewable fuels Renewable fuels are alternative fuel sources such as ethanol, biodiesel (e.g. soy, vegetable oils, animal fats, or recycled restaurant greases) or hydrogen, in contrast to non-renewable fuels such as natural gas, LPG (propane). was 4.5 billion barrels. The denial of the waiver request means the 2008 level will be 9 billion barrels and the 2009 required level is 11.1 billion barrels. Many economists and food industry leaders differ with EPA's determination about ethanol's economic impact and are expressing disappointment at the agency's refusal to waive or modify the mandates. |
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