NEFI President & CEO Jim Collura testified at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) public hearing on Tuesday, July 8, on its proposed Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) rule establishing biofuel volume requirements and changes to the program that could affect home heating oil distributors and their customers.

The proposal sets volumes for biomass-based diesel, which includes biodiesel and renewable diesel, at 5.61 billion gallons for 2026 and 5.86 billion gallons for 2027. This is significantly higher than the 5.25 billion gallons that NEFI and its allies in the biofuels industry requested.

Collura strongly applauded EPA's proposed increases, which demonstrate the Trump Administration's robust support for biofuels. The rule also eliminates renewable electricity RINs (e-RINs), providing further evidence of this administration's commitment to preserving a market for liquid fuels over electrification mandates.

However, NEFI raised concerns about proposed definitional changes to heating oil that appear to restrict eligible uses to space heating only, potentially excluding water heating applications that have historically been eligible under the RFS. Additionally, the proposed changes could arbitrarily expand complex end-user affidavit requirements to traditional heating oil sales, effectively requiring all heating oil consumers to pledge not to use the fuel for certain prohibited uses under the RFS. This would be "practically impossible" for NEFI members to implement.

This is particularly important because on July 1, renewable fuel requirements increased across three states where two million homes are required to use biofuel-blended heating oil. Rocco Lacertosa, President & CEO of the New York State Energy Coalition also testified regarding the importance of the RFS to New York, which now requires 10% blends. Requirements in Connecticut and Rhode Island also increased to 10% and 20%, respectively.

In addition, the agency is also considering a proposal that could require new language on biofuel-blended heating oil product transfer documents, such as bills of lading and delivery tickets. This requirement would be triggered by the definitional changes.

NEFI plans to submit detailed written comments by the August 8 deadline and is working with other associations to propose specific regulatory language fixes that preserve heating oil's established RFS treatment while addressing various technical issues. EPA plans to finalize the rule by October 31, 2025.

Click here to read NEFI's testimony

Click here for text of the proposed rule

For questions, contact NEFI President & CEO Jim Collura at jim.collura@nefi.com.