(NAFB) – The Environmental Protection Agency this week filed a motion in the D.C. Circuit Court to vacate three last-minute small refinery exemptions issued on January 19, 2021.

In the last hours of the Trump Administration, the EPA issued the three waivers to Sinclair. According to EPA’s April 30 filing, the agency under the previous administration “failed to properly analyze the waiver petitions submitted by Sinclair.” The filing says the Trump administration’s EPA “granted exemption extensions that EPA now believes are ‘outside the scope of the EPA’s statutory authority.’”

Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper states, “We strongly support EPA’s request for vacatur and remand of these three midnight-hour exemptions.”

Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor says, “EPA is addressing the previous administration’s mishandling of the SRE program,” adding, “We are hopeful that EPA will continue to rein in the SRE program to achieve its limited purpose and ensure that the RFS advances the biofuels industry.”