Fuels
eIA N e w s
12 MARCH 2015 | FUEL OIL NEWS | www.fueloilnews.com
last year as a result of RFS uncertainty.
In his letter, he explained to McCarthy
how the loss of his plant also forced him
to lay off 30 employees and caused him
to lose his daughters' college funds and
his retirement savings.
Wootton pointed to a statement late
last year in which McCarthy said: "While
I would have preferred to have this rule
done earlier, it hasn't slowed down that
industry that I can see."
The EPA has failed to establish biod-
iesel volume requirements under the RFS
for 2014, 2015 and 2016. Under statute,
all three years' volumes should have been
set. While certain sectors of the renewable
fuels industry have fared better in absorb-
ing the RFS uncertainty—particularly
more mature industries such as corn eth-
anol—the delays have been disastrous for
new industries still getting off the ground.
This is particularly true for biodiesel, the
first EPA-designated advanced biofuel
under the RFS to reach commercial-scale
production nationwide.
Exacerbating the difficulties facing
the industry, the EPA earlier this week
approved a streamlined approach for
allowing imports of Argentinian biodie-
sel into the United States—fast-tracking
foreign imports under the RFS that are
subsidized by Argentinian tax policy
and are likely to undercut U.S. produc-
tion. The decision has been perceived
by biodiesel producers and the domestic
soybean industry as adding insult to
injury.
Recent EPA statistics show that the
U.S. biodiesel market dropped in 2014,
from a high of 1.8 billion gallons in 2013
to 1.75 billion gallon last year. But the
total volumes—which remained steady
only because the EPA last year signaled
that it would finalize a strong RFS—mask
the fact that dozens of biodiesel plants
have stopped production or laid off work-
ers in recent months. The most recent
casualty was Green Earth Fuels, a large
plant outside Houston that filed for bank-
ruptcy earlier this month.
TREMCAR ExpANdS
Tr e m c a r C o n t i n u e s E x p a n d i n U S
Tremcar USA, Inc., a family owned tank
manufacturer, is expanding its United
States head office in Strasburg, Ohio.
Recently, Tremcar has expanded its pro-
duction line to produce dry bulk tankers
to carry cement. Tremcar now employs
over 200 people in New England and the
Mid-Atlantic region. For the last 15 years,
Tremcar has expanded its operations in
the United States to accommodate the
market in terms of warranty service and
more. Tremcar offers repair services, leas-
ing, certification HM-183 and testing.
