Implementation of the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) has created problems that require congressional attention 10 years after the 2005 Energy Policy Act (EPACT) established it, witnesses generally told a joint hearing of two US House Science, Space, and Technology subcommittees. But they disagreed on their recommendations, which ranged from adjusting provisions under EPACT and the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA), which expanded RFS quotas, to repealing the entire statute. “The RFS is an egregious perversion of the free market,” Environment Subcommittee Chairman Jim Bridenstein (R-Okla.) said in his opening statement at the Nov. 3 hearing. “Instead of a transportation fuel market driven by consumer demand, we are stuck with a complex mandate based on outdated assumptions about gasoline demand, environmental impact, and technological readiness. Each year, the RFS requires still higher volumes of renewable fuel which now exceed the volumes that can be accommodated given current gasoline demand,” he said. It also is increasingly apparent that consumers are ill-equipped to make smart choices about new types of gasoline entering the marketplace, Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) said in his opening statement.