Final biodiesel rule approved by Bush administration
4 May 2001
The US Department of Energy (DOE) completed the regulatory review of the final biodiesel rule adopted on 4 January 2001. Under the rule, vehicle fleets required to purchase light duty alternative fueled vehicles under the Energy Policy Act of 1992 are allowed to purchase biodiesel fuel as an alternative.
Biodiesel is a renewable fuel for diesel engines produced from animal, plant or waste oils such as soybean oil, rapeseed oil or waste from french fry oil. The Energy Conservation Reauthorization Act (ECRA) adopted by Congress in 1998 amended the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPACT) to allow fleets that are required to purchase alternative fueled vehicles to meet these requirements, in part, through the use of biodiesel fuel use credits. The rule establishes procedures for fleets and covered persons to request credits for specified biodiesel fuel use and implements ECRA’s credit eligibility and allocation provisions. The biodiesel fuel use credit gives fleets who are otherwise required to purchase an alternative fueled vehicle the option of purchasing and using 450 gallons of biodiesel in vehicles in excess of 8,500 pounds gross vehicle weight instead of acquiring an alternative fueled vehicle.
Consistent with the 20 January 2001, White House directive to review end-of-year rulemaking actions, the DOE temporarily delayed for 60 days the effective date of the rule to allow time for review by the Bush-Cheney administration. With this action the Department of Energy has approved the use of biodiesel fuel use credits and does not intend to initiate any further rulemaking action to modify its provisions. The rule was published in the Federal Register on May 2nd.
Source: US DOE