美国环保署（EPA）提议全面重新分配炼油厂的生物燃料豁免权——记者：Siddharth Cavale芝加哥，10月13日——美国环保署周二提出，在未来两年内要求大型炼油厂在其产品中增加生物燃料的混合比例。这一举措很可能会赢得11月国会选举前来自农业州的选民的支持。
EPA proposes full reallocation of refinery biofuel exemptions By Siddharth Cavale CHICAGO, Oct 13 - The US Environmental Protection Agency proposed on Tuesday to make larger refiners blend more biofuels into their products over the next two years, a move that will likely appeal to farm-state voters ahead of November's congressional elections.
此前，由于环保署宣布将免除29家小型炼油厂的“可再生燃料生产义务”（这些炼油厂认为相关要求会给他们带来经济困难），乙醇生产商和农民们对未来市场需求下降感到担忧。此次提案旨在缓解他们的担忧。
The proposal would help offset concerns about lost demand for ethanol producers and farmers after the EPA announced in August it would waive renewable fuel volume obligations for 29 small refineries that argued the requirements would cause economic hardship.
环保署提议将所有被免除的燃料生产义务重新分配，并提出了两种方案供公众讨论：一种方案是将额外的豁免量平均分配到2026年和2027年；另一种方案则将全部豁免量集中在2027年。环保署在声明中表示，公众意见征集截止日期为2026年12月4日。
The EPA proposed reallocating 100% of those waived fuel volume obligations and is seeking public comment after putting forward two approaches. One would split the additional 2025 small refinery exemption volume evenly between the 2026 and 2027 compliance years, while the other would allocate all of it to 2027. Comments are due by December 4, 2026, the EPA said in a statement.
据芝加哥OPIS生物燃料会议上的炼油商透露，这一消息导致生物柴油和乙醇的可再生燃料信用价格略有下跌。
Renewable credit prices for biodiesel and ethanol fell slightly on the news, according to a refinery trader at the OPIS biofuels conference in Chicago.
今年8月，环保署决定为2025年授予这些小型炼油厂总计17.6亿个“可再生燃料信用”（RINs）的豁免权，其中18家炼油厂获得全额豁免，另外11家炼油厂获得部分豁免。当时环保署表示，未来会尝试将这些豁免量重新分配给其他炼油厂，以确保整体生物燃料混合目标的实现。
The EPA in August decided to grant 1.76 billion RINs worth of small refinery exemptions for the 2025 compliance year, including full exemptions for 18 refineries and partial waivers for 11 others. At the time, the agency said it would seek to reallocate the exempted volumes to other refiners in future years to preserve overall biofuel blending requirements.
这些豁免措施是《可再生燃料标准》（Renewable Fuel Standard）实施以来规模最大的，但遭到了生物燃料生产商和农业团体的强烈批评。他们认为这些豁免会减少对乙醇和生物柴油的需求，进而削弱农业原料的市场。
The exemptions, the largest ever issued under the Renewable Fuel Standard, drew sharp criticism from biofuel producers and farm groups, which argued they would reduce demand for ethanol and biodiesel and undermine markets for agricultural feedstocks.
炼油厂方面则认为，高昂的合规成本以及不断上涨的可再生燃料信用价格使得这些面临经济困难的炼油厂需要得到救济。
Refiners said compliance costs and elevated RIN prices justified relief for facilities facing economic hardship.
“虽然我们认为大多数豁免措施都是不合理的，但如果美国环保署（EPA）的重新分配计划最终得以实施，那么它将有助于缓解乙醇生产商和农民所面临的需求下降问题，”代表乙醇生产商的‘可再生燃料协会’（Renewable Fuels Association）首席执行官杰弗·库珀（Geoff Cooper）表示。
"While we believe most of the exemptions were unjustified, EPA's reallocation plan, if finalized as proposed, will help offset the demand loss for ethanol producers and farmers," said Geoff Cooper, CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, which represents ethanol producers.
美国环保署还表示，重新分配这些被免除的监管义务可能需要将原本定于2026年的合规截止日期（3月31日）延长至2027年。
The EPA also said reallocating the waived obligations could require extending the 2026 compliance year deadline of March 31, 2027.