EPA Announces Action on 2025 Small Refinery Exemptions and Related Actions

EPA Announces Action on 2025 Small Refinery Exemptions and Related Actions

August 31, 2026

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced decisions for 34 small refinery exemption (SRE) petitions under the Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS) program for 2025. In consultation with U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), EPA reviewed and considered information submitted by each petitioning small refinery. EPA then evaluated each SRE petition consistent with the Clean Air Act and case law.

Based on that analysis, EPA is exempting 1.76 billion RFS compliance credits, known as Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs), for 29 small refineries. EPA will propose to reallocate 100 percent of the difference between projected and actual exempted volumes for 2025 SREs into the 2026 and 2027 Renewable Volume Obligations (RVOs) before the end of October 2026.

Due to the agency's 2025 SRE decisions, EPA will also be announcing a direct final rule to extend the 2025 RVO compliance date by 30 days to October 1, 2026. This will allow the market to appropriately account for the additional RINs.

EPA is making the following 2025 SRE determinations:

In 2020, EPA established a methodology in regulation for predicting the expected volumes that would be exempted based on an average of the past three years. Before that rulemaking, SREs were not considered as part of the volumes - in other words, all SREs had the result of reducing volumes. Following EPA's methodology, the agency estimated that 990 million RINs would be exempted in 2025 in "Set 2" and put into the volumes. However, due to more small refineries requesting exemptions and changes in financial circumstances, EPA is exempting more RINs than estimated in "Set 2."

Based on agency experiences, DOE is evaluating how it has historically utilized their 2011 disproportionate economic harm methodology and the information needed for future small refinery petitions to account for current market circumstances in this new phase of the RFS program. DOE will continue to seek public feedback from all impacted stakeholders on these analyses. 

Since the beginning of the Trump Administration, EPA has observed inaccurate and misleading reporting on the agency's RFS actions that have contributed to significant market movements despite no official statement or action from the Administration. Most recently, misleading reports and information led to significant volatility in the RIN market. These incidents raise serious concerns about the potential misuse of material nonpublic information and possible market manipulation. EPA continues to work with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and will expand its coordination to ensure compliance with all applicable federal laws and protect the integrity of the RIN market.

Information on the 2025 SREs can be found here.