EPA’s final rule for 2023 through 2025 raised total renewable fuel requirements each year, from 20.94 billion RINs in 2023 to 22.33 billion RINs in 2025. It did not raise the conventional (corn ethanol) component above 15.0 billion gallons a year. The “increase” framing came from pre-final reporting, which Reuters published citing two unnamed sources. The final rule’s published numbers are the authority, and they differ from that early account in one important way.
What EPA finalized for each year
The table below lists the requirements in EPA’s 2023 final rule. Most categories are expressed in RINs (renewable identification numbers). Biomass-based diesel (BBD) is the exception and is stated in physical gallons.
| Category | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cellulosic biofuel (billion RINs) | 0.84 | 1.09 | 1.38 |
| Biomass-based diesel (billion physical gallons) | 2.82 | 3.04 | 3.35 |
| Advanced biofuel (billion RINs) | 5.94 | 6.54 | 7.33 |
| Total renewable fuel (billion RINs) | 20.94 | 21.54 | 22.33 |
| Total renewable fuel percentage standard | 11.96% | 12.50% | 13.13% |
| Separate supplemental standard (billion RINs) | 0.25 (0.14% standard) | No supplemental volume listed in this rule | No supplemental volume listed in this rule |
These are the values as written in EPA’s 2023 final rule. Section 3 explains a later amendment to one of them.
How to read the units
A RIN is a tracking credit that represents one ethanol-equivalent gallon of renewable fuel, so totals in RINs are not a count of physical gallons. Two things follow:
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- Total renewable fuel, cellulosic, advanced, and supplemental figures are RIN volumes. Ethanol-equivalent gallons and RINs are the same unit under the program’s accounting.
- Biomass-based diesel is stated in physical gallons in this rule. Its figures should not be added to the RIN totals as if they were the same unit.
EPA also said non-ethanol renewable fuels, including biodiesel and renewable diesel, can count toward total requirements. The table is therefore not an ethanol-only blending target.
Did the increase apply to corn ethanol?
Not in the final rule. The conventional renewable fuel requirement stayed at 15.0 billion gallons in each of 2023, 2024, and 2025. EPA explained the choice in its preamble:
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“The final volumes also reflect our decision to maintain a 15.0 billion gallon implied conventional biofuel requirement for all three years (plus an additional 250 million gallon supplemental volume requirement for 2023 to complete EPA’s response to the ACE remand), consistent with the statutory level from 2015 through 2022, rather than increasing this volume to 15.25 billion gallons in 2024 and 2025 as we originally proposed.”
The proposal would have raised conventional volume to 15.25 billion gallons in 2024 and 2025. The final rule did not, which is why the reported expectation of lower corn-ethanol requirements relative to the proposal matches the outcome for that category.
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The total requirement still rose because the difference sits in the advanced category. Subtracting the 15.0 billion conventional figure from each total gives 5.94, 6.54, and 7.33 billion RINs. Those are the advanced biofuel values in the table, so the year-over-year growth in total volume came from advanced biofuels, including biomass-based diesel and cellulosic biofuel, rather than from conventional ethanol.
The separate 2023 supplemental volume
EPA set a 250-million-gallon supplemental renewable fuel requirement for 2023. It was added to complete the agency’s response to the D.C. Circuit’s remand in Americans for Clean Energy v. EPA, 864 F.3d 691 (2017). The supplement is separate from the 20.94 billion RIN total and from the 15.0 billion gallon conventional figure. It applies to 2023 only. The Regulatory Impact Analysis accompanying the rule explains the remand and the supplement’s context.
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What the early reporting said and what the final rule changed
Reuters reported that two unnamed sources expected the Biden administration to raise overall biofuel blending requirements for 2023 through 2025 while reducing corn-ethanol mandates relative to the proposal. The article did not name these sources, so no named official is quoted on the rule’s substance. The part about total requirements was borne out. The part about corn ethanol is consistent with the final conventional figure, which is held at 15.0 billion gallons rather than the proposed 15.25 billion gallons for 2024 and 2025.
Anyone quoting the 2023 headline should cite the final rule’s volumes rather than the pre-final account.
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Later amendments: check the year before using a figure
A later Federal Register rulemaking document changed the 2024 cellulosic biofuel requirement from the original 1.09 billion RINs to 1.01 billion RINs. The same document described a proposed reduction to the 2025 cellulosic requirement. The excerpt identifies that 2025 change as a proposal, so it should not be read as a completed change. This article does not confirm whether the 2025 proposal was finalized or what the operative 2025 cellulosic figure is today.
| Year | Original 2023 final rule (cellulosic, billion RINs) | Later amendment |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1.09 | Reduced to 1.01 billion RINs |
| 2025 | 1.38 | Reduction proposed; final status not confirmed in this article |
If you use the 2024 or 2025 cellulosic figure, state which rule and which year you are citing.
What this means for a personal-finance reader
The figures above are volume obligations under the Renewable Fuel Standard. They set how much renewable fuel must be used across the market in each year. They are not a retail fuel price, a consumer fee, or a personal tax, and this article does not estimate any effect on pump prices. No consumer purchase is implied by the rule, so no product recommendation follows from it.
The useful takeaway for anyone tracking this policy is narrow: total renewable fuel volumes rose across 2023 through 2025, the conventional ethanol component held at 15.0 billion gallons, and the 2023 supplement was a one-year addition tied to a court remand.
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