On April 1, 2026, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final rule establishing the applicable volumes and percentage standards for 2026 and 2027 for cellulosic biofuel, biomass-based diesel (BBD), advanced biofuel, and total renewable fuel. 91 Fed. Reg. 16388. The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) “Set 2” final rule also partially waives the 2025 cellulosic biofuel volume requirement and revises the associated percentage standard due to a shortfall in cellulosic biofuel production. EPA notes that it is promulgating several regulatory changes to the RFS program, including removing renewable electricity as a qualifying renewable fuel under the RFS program and making minor revisions to the biogas provisions of the RFS program. The final rule will be effective June 15, 2026, except for amendatory instruction 47, which will be effective April 28, 2026, and amendatory instruction 17, which will be effective January 1, 2027.
According to EPA’s March 27, 2026, press release, to meet the “historic” 2026 and 2027 volume levels, EPA estimates that biodiesel and renewable diesel production and use will need to increase by over 60 percent compared to 2025 volumes, the last year of the Biden-Harris Administration’s “Set 1.” EPA notes that that this “will drive renewed demand for American soybean producers.” EPA states that it estimates that Set 2 “will generate over $10 billion for rural economies and create over 100,000 new jobs in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors. To provide continued certainty for American corn growers and ethanol producers, EPA will maintain the 15 billion conventional biofuel level for 2026 and 2027.” Beginning in 2028, foreign fuels and feedstocks will receive half the RFS compliance value compared to American-made products, “providing American biofuel producers with time to prepare for the change while ensuring that American farmers benefit from the RFS program and American energy independence.”
