The American Soybean Association is warning that small refinery exemptions could significantly exceed earlier expectations for the 2025 Renewable Fuel Standard compliance year, a shift the group says would undermine domestic biofuel demand when soybean growers are already under pressure.
Recent analyses indicate small refinery exemptions for RFS 2025 could reach more than 1.8 billion Renewable Identification Number credits under a revised methodology now being developed. According to industry assessments, that volume would be nearly twice what the Environmental Protection Agency assumed when it finalized the 2026-2027 Renewable Volume Obligation rule.
The final biofuel blending rule issued earlier this year by the Trump Administration set historic increases in required biofuel volumes, which the association says have bolstered demand for biofuels and U.S. soybeans. The group praised the administration and the EPA for policies that stimulate demand, attract investment, and strengthen local basis for farmers.
The association cautions that if EPA approves small refinery exemption petitions at levels that substantially exceed the assumptions embedded in current blending rules, it would blunt those gains. By the group’s account, a larger pool of exemptions could erase about 500 million gallons of biomass-based diesel demand, reduce U.S. soybean farm revenue by roughly $1 billion, and prioritize oil refiner interests over farmers, rural communities, and the growth of domestic biofuel supplies.
“At a time when soybean farmers are already struggling to support our farms, we cannot afford for the rug to be pulled out from under one of our most important sources of domestic demand,” ASA Vice President Dave Walton, an Iowa soybean farmer, said. He urged the White House to hold to policies that expand markets for biofuels made from U.S. soybeans and to reject proposals that would reverse recent progress.
Biomass-based diesel remains a key and expanding outlet for soybean oil, supporting prices, rural employment, and economic activity nationwide. Reported actions to broaden small refinery exemptions would run counter to stated goals of strengthening U.S. energy dominance, expanding domestic energy production, and supporting rural economies, the association argues.
U.S.-grown biofuels diversify the fuel mix while providing a stable domestic market for agriculture. The association has long opposed compliance waivers that it says erode the integrity of the RFS by cutting into biofuel demand and depressing soybean crop values.
ASA urges restraint on small refinery exemptions
The group is asking President Trump and White House officials to reject any proposal that would expand the formula used to grant refinery exemptions from blending requirements in a way that harms farmers and reduces biofuel demand. Instead, it is urging the administration to keep exemptions no higher than the levels the EPA estimated using historical market data when the current blending rule was published.