The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday issued biofuel blending mandates for 2022 and the prior two years – with this year’s number below one proposed in December – while denying oil refiners waivers to be exempt from the requirements. The EPA set biofuel blending mandates for 2022 at 20.63 billion gallons and retroactive volume mandates for 2021 at 18.84 billion gallons and for 2020 at 17.13 billion gallons. Though it denied the oil refiners’ exemption petitions, the agency said it would allow extra time for small refiners to meet their 2020 blending obligations. The EPA in December proposed to set volumes for 2022 at 20.77 billion gallons, for 2021 at 18.52 billion gallons and for 2020 at 17.13 billion gallons. The volume mandates, typically set ahead of time each year, were delayed due to the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, which severely […]