Description: Challenge to EPA orders granting three petitions for extensions of small refinery exemptions from renewable fuel standards.
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HollyFrontier Cheyenne Refining, LLC v. Renewable Fuels Association
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 06/25/2021 Opinion Download Tenth Circuit decision reversed and EPA granting of applications for extensions of exemptions upheld. Supreme Court Upheld Renewable Fuel Exemptions for Small Refineries. In a 6-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the Tenth Circuit and upheld “extension[s]” of exemptions from renewal fuel program requirements for three small refineries. EPA granted the extensions after a “lull” during which the refineries were not subject to exemptions. The Clean Air Act provision at issue authorizes small refineries to petition EPA “for an extension of the exemption … for the reason of disproportionate economic hardship.” The Court held that the provision used “extension” in its “temporal sense,” but that the statute did not impose a “continuity requirement” and instead allowed small refineries to apply for hardship extensions “at any time.” The Court therefore held that renewable fuel producers who challenged EPA’s approvals of the refineries’ extension requests had not shown that EPA acted in excess of its statutory authority. Justice Barrett dissented, joined by Justices Sotomayor and Kagan. In their view, the majority’s interpretation “caters to an outlier meaning of ‘extend’ and clashes with statutory structure.” 04/15/2021 Reply Download Reply brief filed by petitioners. 03/31/2021 Amicus Brief Download Brief filed by Advanced Biofuels Association as amicus curiae supporting respondents. 03/31/2021 Amicus Brief Download Brief amici curiae filed for Coalition for Renewable Natural Gas and Producers of Renewables United for Integrity Truth and Transparency in support of respondents. 03/31/2021 Amicus Brief Download Brief filed by Growth Energy and American Farm Bureau Federation as amici curiae in support of respondents. 03/31/2021 Amicus Brief Download Brief filed for National Biodiesel Board as amicus curiae in support of respondents. 03/31/2021 Amicus Brief Download Brief filed by Iowa and seven other states as amici curiae supporting respondents. 03/24/2021 Brief Download Brief for the federal respondent filed. 03/24/2021 Brief Download Brief of respondents filed. 03/01/2021 Amicus Brief Download Amicus curiae brief filed by the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers in support of petitioners. 03/01/2021 Amicus Brief Download Brief filed by Small Refineries Association as amicus curiae supporting petitioners. 03/01/2021 Amicus Brief Download Brief filed by Wyoming and six other states as amici curiae in support of petitioners. 02/26/2021 Amicus Brief Download Brief filed by Countrymark Refining and Logistics, LLC as amicus curiae supporting petitioners. 02/22/2021 Brief Download Brief of petitioners filed. 01/08/2021 Order List Download Certiorari granted. Supreme Court Agreed to Hear Small Refiners’ Appeal in Renewable Fuel Standard Exemption Case. On January 8, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court granted a petition for writ of certiorari seeking review of a Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals decision that vacated U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) orders granting three petitions for extensions of small refinery exemptions from renewable fuel standards. The Tenth Circuit agreed with a coalition of renewable fuel producers that EPA exceeded its statutory authority granting extensions when none of the three small refineries had received an initial exemption in the years preceding their petitions for extension. The court also found that EPA improperly relied on hardship caused by factors other than compliance with renewable fuel obligations as a basis for granting the extensions. The petition for writ of certiorari raised the question of whether a small refinery must receive “uninterrupted, continuous hardship exemptions for every year since 2011” to qualify for a hardship exemption. 09/04/2020 Petition for Writ of Certiorari Download Petition for writ of certiorari filed. -
Renewable Fuels Association v. EPA
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 04/07/2020 Order Download Requests for panel rehearing and rehearing en banc denied. 01/24/2020 Opinion Download Orders granting the exemption extension petitions vacated and matters remanded to EPA. Tenth Circuit Vacated Extensions of Small Refinery Exemptions from Renewable Fuel Mandates. The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) orders granting three petitions for extensions of small refinery exemptions from renewable fuel standards. The Tenth Circuit found that a coalition of renewable fuels producers had standing to challenge the exemptions and that the court otherwise had jurisdiction over the case. The Tenth Circuit agreed with the coalition that EPA exceeded its statutory authority granting extensions when none of the three small refineries had received an initial exemption in the years preceding their petitions for extension. The court also found that EPA improperly relied on hardship caused by factors other than compliance with renewable fuel obligations as a basis for granting the extensions.