The U.S. appeals court in Washington unanimously ordered the EPA to reconsider its Renewable Fuel Standard for 2018 because it failed to account for the potential impact of full-throttle corn production on endangered species and habitat, reports Successful Farming.
Even though the decision was directed at agency deliberations that took place in 2017, the Sierra Club, one of the plaintiffs in the case, said the EPA will have to take the ruling into account in writing the RFS for 2020.
The 2018 RFS set a target of mixing 15 billion gallons of corn ethanol into gasoline for use in cars and light trucks. The 15-billion-gallon target was repeated for 2019 and is the EPA proposal for 2020. The agency is expected to finalize in November the RFS for the coming year.
Read the full report here.
