The governors, who lead the Governors' Biofuels Coalition, said the EPA's recent proposal to mitigate the fallout from the small refinery exemption (SRE) issuances was "an important effort towards restoring confidence to producers and brining stability to the industry."

Nonetheless, they said there the administration could use its existing executive authority to implement additional measures that would grow the nation's agriculture and biofuels industries without congressional approval.  

These measures are:

1. Enforce the Clean Air Act and reduce the aromatics in gasoline to open new market opportunities for ethanol to replace toxics and provide refiners with more options to meet octane demand with ethanol.

2. Extending the RVP waiver to higher ethanol blends including E30.

3. Updating the EPA's estimate of lifecycle emissions for ethanol, which have not been updated for a decade. 

4. Directing the EPA to resume processing and approving registration applications for production of cellulosic ethanol from corn kernel fiber for D3 RIN credits.

"These administrative actions would immediately expand renewable energy production and allow state, especially those in the Midwest, to harvest the economic and environmental benefits of a thriving biofuels industry," the governors said. 

Read the letter from Walz and Noem here.