Small Refinery Waivers and Ethanol

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. SMITH. Mr. President, I would like to add my support to the statement given by my colleague from Illinois. On behalf of the corn and soybean farmers in my State and on behalf of the biofuel industry in my State, I strongly oppose the ``small refinery relief'' language in the fiscal year 2020 Interior appropriations bill. This ``relief language'' will allow the EPA to continue to exempt refiners from blending biofuels without any evidence of actual hardship.

Small refinery waivers from the EPA are wreaking havoc on our Nation's rural economy. Across the country, ethanol plants and biodiesel plants are halting production or being forced to shut down. These biofuel plants often are the local cornerstone of the community, supporting thousands of rural jobs across the country, and serving as important markets for farmers to process millions of bushels of corn, soybeans, and other commodities. Farmers are struggling after years of low prices, extreme weather and a chaotic trade agenda, and instead of providing certainty and relief for our farmers, this administration chose to destroy more markets and further harm rural communities.

The problems caused by small-refinery waiver abuse are seen across the upper Midwest, but they hit the agricultural communities in my state of Minnesota particularly hard. Two months ago, the Corn Plus ethanol plant in Winnebago closed. When I traveled there, I talked to farmers and community members and heard directly about how the loss of that facility will impact their lives. The Corn Plus plant closed, but throughout Minnesota ethanol plants are idling and cutting back, impacting workers and hurting local farmers. For example, a recent Renewable Fuels Association analysis of the impact of idling at the Green Plains plant in Fairmont, MN, found that local corn prices were reduced, leading to an $8.4 million loss for local farmers who typically sell to the plant.

Last week, Tim Rudnicki, executive director for the Minnesota Bio- Fuels Association traveled to Michigan to testify at the EPA public hearing on their wholly inadequate Trump administration proposed ``fix'' to the waiver abuse problems. In Mr. Rudnicki's remarks, he said that the current EPA is ``driving renewable biofuels backwards and toward the cliff.'' I couldn't agree more. This has to stop, and Congress needs to make it stop because it has become clear that the current Administration has put big oil ahead of our farmers and our rural communities.

In the wake of the EPA's continued efforts to undercut the integrity of the RFS by misusing its waiver authority, I urge my colleagues to support this country's rural communities by ending the EPA's abuse of the small refinery exemptions.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source