Governor Pete Ricketts says a Supreme Court ruling Friday backing small oil refineries in their bid to get exemptions from using ethanol in their fuels will hurt producers in Nebraska. The 6-3 ruling overturns a lower court’s decision that the exemptions were unwarranted and violated the federal Clean Air Act. Jan Tenbensel is the chairman of the Nebraska Ethanol Board and said Friday that despite the setback, the Biden administration can still have strict rules in place for Small Refinery Exemptions.
“This was a loss for the ethanol industry and the state of Nebraska and for farmers everywhere,” Tenbensel said. “I’m just cautiously hoping the Biden EPA will stop any abuse of SRE’s (small refinery exemptions). Looking over the last few years of EPA SRE granting, I’m cautious and hopeful.
Under the Trump administration’s EPA, the exemptions were easier to get. Senator Deb Fischer of Nebraska said in a statement she’s disappointed in the Supreme Court’s decision and that it will hurt hardworking farmers in Nebraska. There are between 24 and 26 ethanol plants in Nebraska that produce around 2.4 billion gallons of ethanol each year.