SREs, a Thing of the Past?

Small refinery exemptions (SREs) could become a thing of the past if the January 24 ruling by the US Court of Appeals 10^th Circuit is applied across the country.  In the ruling the Court stated EPA cannot ‘extend’ exemptions to any small refineries whose earlier, temporary exemptions had lapsed. In other words, a refiner can’t apply one year, take a year off, then apply again – or if a refiner was denied an application in any year, they cannot apply again after that. 

If that ruling were applied to all small refiners, at most, only the seven that received exemptions in 2015 might still be eligible today.  So, why has EPA received 52 new prior year exemptions?  The obvious answer is that refiners who have been cut out in the past are hoping to be cut back in.  That seems like a long shot, but who knows?  Another scenario might be that these refiners are…