"NEW YORK - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved the request of 25 small refineries to be exempted from the nation’s biofuels laws, an agency source said on Wednesday, marking a big increase from previous years and triggering an outcry from farm groups worried the move will hurt ethanol demand.

The expansion of the waiver program represents the Trump administration’s latest clash with the powerful corn lobby, as it seeks to help merchant refiners that claim the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard costs them hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

The decade-old law requires refiners to blend increasing amounts of biofuels like corn-based ethanol into the nation’s fuel each year, or purchase blending credits from other companies - a policy intended to provide a boost to Midwestern corn growers, reduce pollution and cut fuel imports."

Jarrett Renshaw and Chris Prentice report for Reuters April 4, 2018. [2]