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Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →In March 2025, oil and biofuel interests were reported to be negotiating over future U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard rules—not announcing a deal or a federal mandate. Reuters reported that participants discussed higher biomass-based diesel targets, small-refinery exemptions and tax policy. EPA later finalized 2026 and 2027 standards, then announced additional decisions on 2025 refinery exemption petitions.
What was the reported effort to negotiate?
Reuters reported on March 27, 2025, that the Trump administration was encouraging oil and biofuel interests to seek common ground on future Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) policy. At least two bilateral meetings had taken place, including one hosted by the American Petroleum Institute (API). The reported discussions covered mandated blending volumes, small-refinery exemptions and biofuel tax policy.
Reuters attributed details about the meetings and participants’ positions to API vice president of downstream policy Will Hupman and people familiar with the matter, including three unnamed sources. An unnamed attendee told Reuters, “There was no consensus other than a consensus to keep talking.” The reported discussions therefore reflected negotiations and stakeholder positions, not an agreed policy or an EPA decision.
What changes did the groups reportedly discuss?
Biomass-based diesel volumes
Reuters reported that three sources said participants had agreed in principle to seek a substantial increase from the then-current 3.35 billion-gallon biomass-based diesel mandate. The reported request ranged from 4.75 billion to 5.5 billion gallons. Participants disagreed about how quickly to seek higher volumes, including whether to make a larger increase in 2026 or phase changes in over time. Those figures describe a reported negotiating position in 2025; they are not the later EPA rule’s units or final requirements.
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Reuters said participants saw little near-term potential to increase ethanol blending mandates, which the report described as capped at 15 billion gallons amid plateauing gasoline demand. That was the report’s account of the participants’ view, not a separate EPA finding about future ethanol demand.
Small-refinery exemptions and tax credits
The groups remained divided, according to Reuters, over small-refinery exemptions and whether other refiners should make up the obligations waived for exempt refineries. On tax policy, the report described disagreement between restoring a blenders credit and supporting the Section 45Z Clean Fuel Production Credit. It said 45Z had replaced a flat $1-per-gallon blenders credit and was based on carbon intensity; the administration had not stated whether it would move forward with 45Z.
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What did EPA ultimately set for 2026 and 2027?
EPA announced its final 2026–2027 RFS rule on March 27, 2026. Its summary reports the values below in billion RINs, not gallons. One RIN is equivalent to one ethanol-equivalent gallon of renewable fuel. “Total applicable volume” is shown separately from the listed volume requirement because the figures differ, including where the applicable total reflects small-refinery exemption reallocation.
| Fuel category | 2026 volume requirement | 2026 total applicable volume | 2027 volume requirement | 2027 total applicable volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biomass-based diesel | 8.86 billion RINs | 9.07 billion RINs | 8.95 billion RINs | 9.20 billion RINs |
| Advanced biofuel | 10.82 billion RINs | 11.10 billion RINs | 10.98 billion RINs | 11.32 billion RINs |
| Total renewable fuel | 25.82 billion RINs | 26.81 billion RINs | 25.98 billion RINs | 27.02 billion RINs |
The EPA figures cannot be directly compared with Reuters’ 4.75-to-5.5-billion-gallon reported request as if they were the same measure: the units differ, and the EPA table distinguishes a category requirement from a total applicable volume. EPA’s final rule also partially waived the 2025 cellulosic biofuel requirement because of a production shortfall, revised its percentage standard and removed renewable electricity as a qualifying RFS fuel (ending the eRIN pathway).
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How did EPA handle small-refinery exemptions?
In its final 2026–2027 rule, EPA reallocated 70% of exempted 2023–2025 obligations to 2026 and 2027. That final-rule action was followed by a separate announcement on August 31, 2026, concerning 2025 petitions:
- EPA said it had decided 34 petitions and granted exemptions to 29 refineries, covering 1.76 billion RINs.
- EPA said it would propose, before the end of October 2026, reallocating 100% of the difference between projected and actual exempted 2025 volumes into the 2026 and 2027 obligations. As of the August announcement, this was a planned proposal, not a finalized reallocation.
- EPA said the 2025 compliance deadline would be extended by 30 days, to October 1, 2026.
These later actions show why a reported negotiation over exemptions should not be read as the outcome: EPA’s final rule and its subsequent petition decisions are distinct agency actions, and the additional reallocation described in August remained proposed.
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What happened to the tax-credit question?
EPA’s 2026 final-rule impact analysis says the biodiesel blenders tax credit and sustainable aviation fuel credit were replaced by 45Z starting in 2025. That establishes the broad transition, but it is not a complete account of 45Z eligibility, credit rates or later amendments, and EPA’s RFS analysis is not tax guidance. The Reuters report captured the debate over the policy direction in March 2025; it did not establish that the administration had chosen between the alternatives.
How to read the headline against the later rule
The headline describes an effort to get industry groups to negotiate, as reported in March 2025. The reported diesel-volume range was a request, not a mandate. EPA’s March 2026 standards are the final agency requirements for those compliance years, while the August 2026 statement about further 2025 exemption reallocation described a proposal EPA intended to make, not a finalized change. Keeping those distinctions—and the difference between gallons and RINs—prevents the negotiation story from being mistaken for the rules that followed.
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