Transportation and Climate
Regulations & Standards: Renewable Fuels
EPA is responsible for developing and implementing regulations to ensure that transportation fuel sold in the United States contains a minimum volume of renewable fuel. The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program regulations were developed in collaboration with refiners, renewable fuel producers, and many other stakeholders.
The RFS program was created under the Energy Policy Act (EPAct) of 2005, and established the first renewable fuel volume mandate in the United States. As required under EPAct, the original RFS program (RFS1) required 7.5 billion gallons of renewable- fuel to be blended into gasoline by 2012.
Under the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007, the RFS program was expanded in several key ways to include:
- 36 billion gallons of renewable fuel by 2022, up from 9 billion gallons in 2008;
- New categories of renewable fuel, including cellulosic biofuel and biomass-based diesel, and separate volume requirements for each;
- New lifecycle greenhouse gas performance threshold standards to ensure that each category of renewable fuel emits fewer greenhouse gases than the petroleum fuel it replaces.
EPA's Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) site includes information on:
- Regulations: Final RFS and RFS2 rules, rules to establish additional renewable fuel production pathways and pathway components (including Notices of Data Availability (NODAs), direct final rules, and supplemental determinations), annual volume standards, and technical amendments
- Compliance Help: Guidance on the new fuel pathway approval process (petitions for new fuel types, production processes, or feedstocks), enforcement, engineering reviews, and other compliance topics
- EPA Moderated Transaction System (EMTS) for the tracking of Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs)