The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 6 denied a request from the Trump administration to pause the small refinery exemption (SRE) lawsuit currently pending before the court. The court is currently scheduled to hear oral arguments for the case on March 25.

The administration requested the delay in order to “reassesses the basis for and the soundness of the denial actions.”

The case pertains to U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit’s November 2023 decision related to the administration of SREs under the Renewable Fuel Standard.

The U.S. EPA in April 2022 denied 36 SREs that had been filed under the RFS. The agency in June 2022 denied an additional 69 additional SRE petitions. Those SRE petitions had been filed by 36 small refineries located in 18 states.

Numerous refineries challenged the denials in the Third, Fifth, Seventh, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, and D.C. Circuit Courts. All regional circuits except the Fifth Circuit concluded that only the D.C. Circuit was the proper venue to hear the challenges and either dismissed or transferred the challenges to the D.C. Circuit. The Fifth Circuit Court, however, denied EPA’s request to transfer the challenges to the D.C. Circuit court, holding that the SRE denials were “locally or regionally applicable” rather than “national applicable.” The Fifth Circuit Court proceeded with the challenges and in November 2023 ruled in favor of the small refineries, remanding six SRE petitions to the EPA for reconsideration. Biofuel groups submitted requests for rehearings with the court, which were ultimately denied.

Growth Energy and the Renewable Fuels Association in May 2024 jointly petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn the Fifth Circuit’s decision. In their petition, Growth Energy and RFA argued that challenges to those denials should be adjudicated solely in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, not in regional circuits like the Fifth, which only covers Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. In contrast to all other U.S. Courts of Appeals that evaluated this venue issue, the Fifth Circuit concluded that it was the proper venue to hear and rule on these challenges, despite the fact that EPA’s SRE policy is “nationally applicable” and “based on a determination of nationwide scope or effect.”

The Supreme Court on Oct. 21, 2024, announced it would take up the case.

“After the change in Administration, EPA’s Acting Administrator has determined that the agency should reassess the basis for and soundness of the underlying denial actions. Such a reassessment could obviate the need for this Court to determine the proper venue for challenges to those actions… Given the Acting Administrator’s determination, it would be appropriate for the Court to hold further proceedings in this case in abeyance to allow for EPA to reassess the basis for and soundness of the denial actions.,” the EPA wrote in a Jan. 24 motion filed with the court.

Growth Energy and the RFA on Jan. 27 filed a response with the court opposing the EPA’s motion to pause proceedings on the case.

“EPA’s statement that it wishes to reassess the basis for and soundness of the underlying denial actions changes nothing about the status of this case,” the biofuel groups wrote. “Before this Court granted certiorari, the court below had already vacated the denial actions and remanded them to EPA for reconsideration, as had the D.C. Circuit in a separate case. Thus, this Court granted certiorari knowing that EPA was already bound to reassess the basis for and soundness of the underlying denial actions. The possibility that EPA would issue revised actions on the exemption petitions while this case was pending— and might even reverse course and grant the petitions—rightly did not deter the Court from granting certiorari because the question presented does not relate to the basis for or soundness of the underlying denial actions. The Court’s judgment remains sound.”

The Supreme Court has denied the EPA’s request for a delay and scheduled oral arguments for March 25.