Jarrett Renshaw and Stephanie Kelly

NEW YORK (Reuters), – Three sources close to the situation said that the Biden administration would likely expand the range of renewable fuel production methods eligible for credit under the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard program.

Sources said that the move would help boost production of advanced biofuels. These include low-carbon products like renewable diesel or sustainable aviation fuel. The proposal will include a mandate for oil refiners to mix biofuels into their fuel mix.

According to Reuters, the Environmental Protection Agency (which administers the RFS) plans to make the blending mandate proposal public in the next few days.

The EPA did not comment on this article.

According to sources, the proposal for expanded eligibility in production may echo one that was made in 2016. This rule was suggested towards the end Obama’s presidency but it never became a reality.

It’s not known how close the language of the new proposal would match the old language.

The EPA’s 2016 proposal highlighted the fact that several companies developed technologies for producing renewable fuels that can be used to produce a biointermediate at one plant and then converted into renewable fuels at another. The EPA has sought to make fuels from such production methods eligible for current RFS approval pathways.

The EPA claimed at the time that they were proposing these changes to boost production of cellulosic biofuels.