EPA keeps 40 small-refinery waivers pending, uncertainty hangs over RFS market

EPA on May 21 kept 40 small-refinery-exemption petitions pending under the Renewable Fuel Standard, after one new filing from Chevron Salt Lake pushed the backlog back up and underscored how unresolved waivers continue to cloud RIN demand and compliance planning.

The new petition was filed April 27 for compliance year 2025 and seeks relief for Chevron Salt Lake’s refinery in North Salt Lake, Utah. Chevron describes the plant as a 55,000-barrel-per-day refinery, while the Utah Department of Environmental Quality says it has operated continuously since 1948 and processes about 45,000 barrels of crude per day. EPA also shifted two 2024 petitions from ineligible to pending in the latest update, a reminder that the exemption ledger can change even without a single approval or denial.

The 40 pending petitions now include two from 2023, four from 2024 and 34 from 2025. EPA took no action in the monthly update to approve or deny any requests, leaving the market to guess how much waived obligation could still be carved out of future renewable volume demand.

That matters because SRE decisions feed directly into RIN generation, obligated volumes and refinery hedging. EPA’s final 2026-2027 RFS rule included a 70% reallocation of small-refinery exemptions granted for 2023 through 2025, showing that waiver decisions can ripple into later rulemakings, not just the compliance year in which a petition is filed. EPA says small refineries may seek extensions if they show disproportionate economic hardship.

The backlog also comes against a history of heavy waiver activity. EPA said in 2025 it was acting on 175 petitions from 38 refineries covering compliance years 2016 through 2024. On Aug. 22, 2025, the agency granted 63 full exemptions and 77 partial exemptions, denied 28 petitions and found seven ineligible, leaving just 13 pending before the queue later refilled.

EPA’s alternative RIN retirement schedule for 2020 adds another layer of unfinished compliance. Seventeen small refineries are participating, with a combined RVO of 880 million RINs, 540 million already retired and 340 million still outstanding as of May 21. Renewable Fuels Association and Growth Energy have both argued that the waiver process can weaken renewable-fuel demand and erode market confidence, while refiners keep watching the backlog for signals on how much of the RFS burden will ultimately stick.