On Friday, a coalition of aviation industry groups, on behalf of the Business Aviation Coalition for Sustainable Aviation Fuel, urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide greater opportunities for the development of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) as it makes updates to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).
The coalition, including the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), Helicopter Association International, National Air Transportation Association, and National Business Aviation Association, said that with appropriate changes, the RFS will help the United States meet President Joe Biden’s administration’s “SAF Grand Challenge” goal of bringing 3 billion gallons of SAF to market per year by 2030.
In a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan, the Business Aviation Coalition called on his agency to expand the list of eligible feedstocks, thus making new sources available for biofuels and SAF, approve new process technologies and biointermediate opportunities, and ensure that advanced biofuel volumes are at levels that will allow for a greater supply of those fuels.
“We hope EPA and this Administration recognize the opportunity for SAF moving forward as part of the RFS program. The growth in SAF will not happen if EPA does not responsibly improve the regulatory structure of the RFS — by finalizing biointermediates, by updating the opportunities for both feedstocks and technologies, and by increasing the RVO volumes accordingly,” the coalition wrote in its comments.
The coalition also said the EPA should ensure that municipal solid waste and woody biomass are included in the definition of biointermediates.
Congress created the RFS program in 2005 as part of the Energy Policy Act. The program was later expanded in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to reduce the nation’s reliance on imported oil and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“The RFS has been driving growth from biofuels and accomplishing what creators of the program aimed for — deployment of domestic, ultra-clean renewable fuel,” the coalition said. “For this success to continue, certainty must be provided to the market. Congress sought to provide this certainty through the RFS program, and EPA should provide that certainty through the regulatory process.”