Washington, D.C. – Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) today released the following statement after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its final Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) rule, which sets specific renewable fuel volumes for the years 2014 - 2016.

Chairman Smith: “Federal mandates are the wrong approach to fuel innovation. The Renewable Fuel Standard has increased costs for consumers and increased emissions. But instead of working with Congress to reform the RFS, the Obama administration has chosen to double down on another unworkable mandate.”

The final rule requires 18.11 billion gallons of renewable fuels be blended into the fuel supply by 2016, an increase from the EPA’s proposed rule but less than the target required in current law. The final rule will also break the “blend wall,” or ten percent ethanol, which has been accepted as the upper limit to the total amount of ethanol that can be blended into U.S. transportation fuel supply while still maintaining engine performance and compliance with the Clean Air Act.

The Science Committee has held two hearings on the RFS this year and heard from several witnesses that the RFS increases both fuel costs and emissions.