WASHINGTON – On Wednesday, EPA air chief Janet McCabe declined repeated requests by lawmakers to provide a projected date by which the agency will release a final 2014 Renewable Fuel Standard rule, or the 2015 and 2016 rules.

EPA announced last month that it won’t release a final rule this year mandating the volumes of ethanol that must be blended into the nation’s gasoline supply, and instead will release final rules for 2014, 2015 and 2016 next year. By law, the volume mandates are due by November 30 of the previous year, which means the 2014 rule was already a year overdue.

At a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing today, subcommittee Chairman James Lankford and ranking member Jackie Speier pressed McCabe to project when EPA will finish the rules, but McCabe declined to provide a projection, saying the agency would work as quickly as possible and keep the committee informed.