Sen. Chuck Grassley and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) led 23 senators in penning a bipartisan letter last week advising President Trump to maintain point of obligation under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and reject changes that alter the current system. Under the RFS, oil refiners are the entity required to blend biofuels and are responsible for complying with the law, known as the point of obligation. The possible modification would move point of obligation to retailers and reduce incentive for refiners to blend biofuel. “We believe such changes are unwarranted and indefensible,” the senators wrote to Trump. “We appreciate the commitment you have made to support the RFS. We strongly urge you to steer clear of administrative changes to the policy that would undermine the program and run contrary to your goals of promoting domestic energy independence and more choices at the pump.” The potential variation to RFS point of obligation have also been opposed by fuel marketers, retailers, struck stop operators, petroleum producers and renewable fuel producers.
