Under a court settlement with the oil industry, the Environmental Protection Agency will now release the 2015 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) renewable volume obligations (RVOs) for biofuels by June 1, 2015, and issue the final 2014 and 2015 RFS blending targets by November 30, 2015. In addition, EPA will also release and finalize 2016 numbers this year.

The agency failed to finalize 2014 volume requirements last year creating uncertainty in the biofuels industry, so corn and soybean farmers expressed cautious optimism about the announcement.

“The EPA has provided additional clarity about their timeline for announcing the 2014 through 2016 renewable fuel requirements,” said National Corn Growers Association President Chip Bowling. “We have expressed our concerns about the continued delays to the EPA, and we will be taking them at their word that they will adhere to this new deadline.”

“Today’s announcement provides encouragement that EPA will get the RFS implementation back on track and provide greater certainty and stability to the U.S. biodiesel industry,” said American Soybean Association President Wade Cowan. “As good as this news is, however, there are still questions that remain regarding the volume levels that EPA will propose for 2014-2017.”

EPA has indicated that it will propose volume requirements for 2014 that ‘reflect the volumes of renewable fuel that were actually used in 2014.’