FARGO, N.D. - The Environmental Protection Agency's proposed rule on the 2017 Renewable Volume Obligations will set the 2017 conventional biofuel evel at 14.8 billion gallons which is an increase from 14.5 billion gallons in 2016, but less than the 2007 statutory level of 15 billion gallons. Public comments regarding the EPA’s rule can be made through July.
Carson Klosterman, president of the North Dakota Corn Growers, released the following statement:
"The EPA’s decision to move the level of conventional biofuel (corn) up from 14.5 billion to 14.8 billion gallons is appreciated, however, we were hoping they could have found a way to take the level to the statutory level of 15 billion gallons. The RFS is working to make our air cleaner and has spurred investment in rural communities and created high-tech jobs. Just in North Dakota, in 2015, over 400 million gallons of ethanol and 1.3 million tons of dried distiller’s grains were produced from approximately 166 million bushels of corn, which is about 40 percent of the North Dakota 2015 corn crop.”
"Our mission at North Dakota Corn Growers is to reduce the corn pile and to increase the value of corn for our producers. Ethanol production is one of the main uses of corn to meet our mission. We have worked with our state ethanol industry to expand the availability of ethanol and to provide our producers with an increased market price for corn. Corn farmers are encouraged to write to the EPA by the July 11 deadline and ask EPA to raise the RVO to the statutory level of 15 billion gallons for conventional biofuel (corn) production."
