Beginning in calendar year 2028, the Administrator may not apply or enforce any extension of an exemption granted pursuant to a petition under this subparagraph or otherwise continue to enforce the exemption under subparagraph (A) with respect to any small refinery.
Terminate small refinery exemption petitions and enforcement of exemption extensions beginning in calendar year 2028.
Occurrences
the Administrator may not consider any petition for an extension under this subparagraph, with respect to any calendar year, that is submitted after July 1, 2028;
to the maximum extent practicable, the Administrator shall, not later than October 1, 2028, act on all outstanding petitions.
Evidence
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The amendment text says that, beginning in calendar year 2028, no small refinery may petition for an extension after calendar year 2027; the Administrator may not consider petitions submitted after July 1, 2028; and the Administrator shall act on all outstanding petitions by October 1, 2028. It also adds a new at-risk exemption framework beginning in 2028.
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The Rules Committee summary notes that H.R. 7567 includes a version that 'Allows year-round E15 while keeping the current Small Refinery Exemption petition process in place and banning reallocation.' The same page shows the bill was reported by the Agriculture Committee and the rule was adopted by the House on April 29, 2026.
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EPA states that small refineries may petition for an exemption extension only if they meet the statutory criteria, including prior qualification for the initial blanket exemption and throughput limits, and that the page was last updated on September 3, 2025.
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EPA announced action on a backlog of 175 SRE petitions from 2016 through 2024, granting full exemptions to 63 petitions, partial exemptions to 77, denying 28, and finding 7 ineligible.
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The Federal Register notice records EPA's final action on the August 2025 SRE Decisions Action, confirming EPA issued decisions on 175 small refinery exemption petitions under the RFS program.
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The court filing states that petitioners challenged EPA's August 2025 denials of small-refinery-exemption petitions, showing ongoing litigation over the exemption program.
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EPA announced final agency action on 34 individual small refinery exemption petitions for the 2025 compliance year, granting 18 full exemptions, 11 partial exemptions, denying 3 petitions, and finding 2 ineligible.
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GovInfo's referred-in-Senate text says H.R. 1346 was received in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works on May 14, 2026, after passing the House on May 13, 2026. The text would bar EPA, beginning in calendar year 2028, from applying or enforcing small refinery exemption extensions and would prohibit petitions for calendar years after 2027, while requiring action on outstanding petitions by October 1, 2028.
Assessments
The promised policy has not been delivered as of September 1, 2026: EPA was still processing and granting small refinery exemption petitions, including final action on 2025 compliance-year petitions on August 31, 2026. However, there is a serious same-term legislative effort closely matching the promise. H.R. 1346 passed the House on May 13, 2026 and was referred to the Senate on May 14, 2026 with language barring post-2027 petitions and limiting EPA enforcement of exemption extensions beginning in calendar year 2028. Because the matching vehicle advanced through the House but was not enacted, this is meaningful progress rather than full delivery.
Evidence shows a concrete legislative effort closely matching the promise: amendment text to H.R. 7567 would, beginning in 2028, end new small-refinery extension petitions after 2027, cut off consideration of late petitions, require resolution of outstanding petitions, and create a new at-risk framework. But the available evidence does not show enactment. In fact, the House Rules summary indicates the broader bill version kept the existing Small Refinery Exemption petition process in place, and EPA actions in 2025-2026 confirm the SRE system remained active. Because the promise outcome has not been delivered, but there was a serious, specific attempt to advance it, the best judgment is partial rather than full delivery.