The largest US refinery conversion to renewable diesel (RD) production must resolve permitting issues before it can operate, a California judge clarified yesterday.
The Superior Court of Contra Costa County yesterday ordered that construction may continue on the 67,000 b/d Rodeo Renewed project but that the facility may not operate until Phillips 66 and Contra Costa County resolve a trio of potential deficiencies in its environmental review that allowed the project.
The judgment clarified a previous decision that allowed conversion work already underway to continue but did not address whether the project could also operate once completed. Phillips 66 had sought an order allowing the plant to operate as that permitting work was underway.
Phillips 66 may complete construction without interruption but the judgment leaves uncertain when a major new consumer of biofuel feedstocks and source of renewable diesel might begin ramping up operations. The original permitting work, under the California Environmental Quality Act, took roughly a year to review and receive county approval in May 2022.
Phillips 66 plans to end crude processing at the refinery ahead of a first quarter 2024 start of commercial operations at the facility.
"We are confident the issues identified by the court will be resolved and take seriously our commitment to safe and environmentally sound operations," a Phillips 66 spokesman said today.
Judge Edward Weil in August set aside Contra Costa County's approval of an environmental impact report essential to the refinery conversion's land use permit to address three issues raised by environmental organizations. The county must consider the environmental impact of a third-party feedstocks terminal, odor mitigation associated with renewable diesel production and the combined effect of the full conversion and a previously approved and operating 12,000 b/d renewable diesel unit at the facility, issues not suitably addressed in the approved permit, according to the court.
Weil determined that the previous judgment should be clearer following oral arguments held yesterday. Citizens for a Better Environment and the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) had pressed over the past two months to specifically block operations pending the review.
"Communities long suffering from refinery pollution have every right to demand maximum protections against toxic emissions and foul odors, and the county needs to secure them," CBD attorney Hollin Kretzmann said in a statement.
Renewable diesel consumption generates nearly 40pc of new credits under California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard. Rising supplies of the fuel, which can seamlessly replace petroleum diesel in most fuel systems, have contributed to a record and growing volume of unused LCFS credits that have helped cut spot credit prices by more than half since early 2021.
US renewable diesel consumption has in turn dramatically increased supplies of federal renewable identification numbers (RINs) used to comply with the US Renewable Fuel Standard, blunting the need to blend higher concentrations of ethanol and weighing on D4, D5 and D6 RIN prices.
