(NAFB) – Senator Shelly Capito of West Virginia and several colleagues wrote a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan regarding the agency’s recent denial of refinery exemption petitions.

The letter asks the Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider its proposed blanket denials of small refinery exemptions under the Renewable Fuel Standard. The senators say it runs counter to the clear congressional intent under the Clean Air Act.

“We are puzzled by the action EPA took in these proposals, including the unprecedented and drastic step to propose a blanket denial of all 65 outstanding small refinery hardship petitions,” the letter says, “especially at a time of increasing gas prices and several small refinery closures.”

They also say the current proposal not only neglects the economic impacts but nullifies Congressional intent by deliberately amending the Clean Air Act which allows for small refinery exemptions for those that face disproportionate economic hardship due to RFS compliance.