http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/22/business/energy-environment/epa-postpones-setting-standards-for-biofuel-blends.html 2014-11-22 02:15:11 E.P.A. Postpones Setting Standards for Biofuel Blends The agency’s move comes in response to a glut in the domestic oil market and significant public comment about the proposed targets. === The Because of the delay, a spokeswoman said in a statement, the agency will not take up the rule, known as the Renewable Fuel Standard, until next year, when it seeks to set levels for 2015 and 2016. A The notice also said the agency would adjust reporting requirements so refiners could comply retroactively. The decision not to decide is the latest setback in a long line of economic, Now, however, the country is awash in domestic oil from shale drilling, while more efficient cars and an anemic economy have cut demand. The market is saturated with regular corn ethanol, while production of cellulosic, or so-called advanced, biofuel — made from nonfood parts of corn plants or other biomass like wood waste — has fallen short of what the mandate requires refiners to use. “A lot of the motivation for biofuels is gone,” said Michael E. Webber, deputy director of the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin. “I think this delay is not just a stall tactic. I think the E.P.A. really doesn’t know what to do.” On Friday, supporters and opponents of increased biofuel production expressed a rare consensus that the E.P.A.’s move was a punt and that the rule needed to be fixed, whether they were in favor of revision or repeal. Michael McAdams, president of the Advanced Biofuels Association, a trade group, said, “We’re still in suspended animation, and the uncertainty is just kicked down the road.”