WASHINGTON – The EPA announced yesterday that it will extend its compliance reports and attest engagement reports for the 2013 RFS compliance periodfor 30 days and 90 days, respectively, after the final 2014 RFS mandates are published in the Federal Register. 

The deadline had already been extended to Sept. 30, and this new move signals that the agency may be taking even longer than expected to finalize its controversial and long-delayed 2014 RFS volume mandates, according to a report from Politico.

“The new deadline will … assist industry with managing their compliance with both the 2013 and 2014 renewable fuel standards,” EPA spokeswoman Enesta Jones said in a statement. “This action is being taken because we are still working on the 2014 RFS final standards; and we are taking the time to get them right,” she said.

In the statement, she went on to emphasize that biofuels are an important part of the agency’s “all-of-the-above” energy strategy, with the RFS goal of increasing biofuel production and use. “Our overarching goal is to put the RFS program on a manageable path forward that supports continued, achievable, realistic growth in renewable fuels,” Jones said.