EPA turns down states’ ethanol RFS waiver request

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WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday denied requests from several governors to waive production requirements for corn-based ethanol.

A renewable fuels law requires that 13.2 billion gallons of ethanol be produced by this year and 15 billion gallons be produced by 2015.

That’s good for corn farmers, but it’s angered poultry, hog and cattle farmers.

They say they’ve seen big jumps in corn-based feed costs as corn is diverted to make ethanol vehicle fuel.

States requesting the waiver say reduced corn production due to this year’s drought has made the problem even worse.

Gov. Mike Beebe, D-Ark., said in a letter to the EPA in August that ethanol production was taking a “terrible toll” on animal agriculture in his state and that consumers would pay more for food as a result.

Governors of North Carolina, New Mexico, Georgia, Texas, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Utah and Wyoming also asked for the waiver, along with members of Congress and a coalition of farm groups and other industries that have opposed increased ethanol production.

The EPA said Friday that the agency has studied the effects of waiving the requirement and officials believe it would have had little impact on corn prices.

“We recognize that this year’s drought has created hardship in some sectors of the economy, particularly for livestock producers,” said Gina McCarthy, assistant administrator of the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation.

Under the EPA’s interpretation of the renewable fuels law, first passed in 2005 and then significantly expanded in 2007, it is not easy to qualify for a waiver.

The EPA can grant a waiver if the agency determines that the set ethanol production would “severely harm” the economy of a state, region or the entire country.