NEW YORK, June 3 (Reuters) - The American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers trade group, which represents U.S. refiners, said on Wednesday it had filed a lawsuit challenging the Environmental Protection Agency's biofuel blending mandates, arguing they will sharply increase compliance costs and fuel prices.
The lawsuit filed in the D.C. Circuit Court on Friday asks the court to review the final mandates set under the EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The mandates, finalized in late March, require oil refiners to blend billions of gallons of ethanol and other biofuels into the nation's fuel supply or buy credits known as Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs).
“The cost of complying with the RFS recently hit a new all-time high,” CEO Chet Thompson said in a statement accompanying the lawsuit, calling the mandates the largest and most expensive RFS iteration in history and the single most expensive regulation of President Donald Trump’s second term.
The EPA, in an emailed statement, declined to comment on pending or ongoing litigation.
The AFPM said it expects compliance could cost more than $106 billion over two years, or between 26 and 35 cents per gallon for every gallon of gasoline and diesel supplied to the U.S. market.
The trade group also argues that the mandates exceed current U.S. production capacity and could force refiners to import fuel and feedstocks, driving up costs that would be passed on to consumers. The agency, for instance, has mandated biodiesel and renewable diesel volume requirements at levels 60% higher than last year.
The AFPM also warned that refiners' rush to comply has increased demand for credits and rapidly drawn down the RIN bank, which could deplete it by 2027.
"Without a solvent RIN bank, the only way to comply with the RFS will be by reducing the amount of transportation fuel supplied to the U.S. market," the AFPM said.
Prices for 2026 ethanol and biodiesel RINs hit record highs last week. In April, biodiesel RIN generation totaled about 690 million credits, well below the roughly 915 million needed monthly to meet the mandate, analysts have said.
Reporting by Siddharth Cavale in New York; Editing by Andrea Ricci
