Ethanol makers cheer as EPA punts on renewable fuel mandate decision

• Ethanol and other biofuel groups are declaring victory, as the EPA today said a decision to finalize blending requirements for 2014 - first proposed more than a year ago - has been delayed.
• The delay gives hope to ethanol producers that the EPA will rethink how it proposes the annual biofuels levels; the draft 2014 biofuels levels were much lower than the ethanol industry wanted.
• Oil company lobbyists opposed to the law say the idea of setting a retroactive quota shows the EPA is incapable of managing the program; the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, which represents energy companies, plans to sue the EPA for failing to issue the 2014 requirements.
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