The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published a Federal Register notice opening a 30-day comment period on requests from the governors of Arkansas and North Carolina to waive the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) requirements.
Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe and North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue each submitted an RFS waiver request last week because of the historic drought and threats to each state’s livestock and poultry industries.
Governors in Maryland and Delaware as well as 156 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, 34 U.S. senators and a coalition of livestock, poultry, meat, dairy and feed organizations have also argued that an RFS waiver is needed to help provide relieve from high corn prices caused by the mandate and the drought.
The EPA has 90 days to decide on the RFS waiver petitions.
The Federal Register notice is available here: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/fuels/renewablefuels/documents/2012-rfs-waiver-request-comment.pdf.