DENVER, COLO. and ATLANTA, GA.—Growth Energy, the nation’s largest biofuel trade association, filed briefs in the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 10th and 11th Circuits yesterday urging the courts to reject attempts by refiners to circumvent recent U.S. Supreme Court precedent on venue by bringing challenges to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) August 2025 small refinery exemption (SRE) decision in those two circuits, rather than in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion in EPA v. Calumet, which addressed Clean Air Act venue, or, in other words, the proper court in which to bring certain Clean Air Act challenges. The Court held that SRE decisions EPA issued in April and June 2022 were based on determinations that have “nationwide scope or effect,” and therefore must be litigated in the D.C. Circuit, whose decisions on agency actions often cover the entire U.S.
Refiners have now brought new challenges, outside of the D.C. Circuit, to EPA’s August 2025 SRE decisions. The refiners argued that the determinations on which those decisions were based do not fit within the parameters for D.C. Circuit venue established under Calumet. In support of EPA’s own briefing opposing the refiners, Growth Energy argued that the refiners’ challenges rested on a “fundamental misunderstanding” of EPA’s decisions.
“The facts in this case are clear. EPA’s August 2025 SRE decisions were based on determinations of nationwide scope or effect and should be litigated in the D.C. circuit,” said Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor. “The courts should dismiss or transfer these challenges to the circuit where they belong, and avoid creating a patchwork of inconsistent case law that ultimately increases market uncertainty and undermines the strength of American farmers and biofuel producers.”
Read Growth Energy’s briefs in the 10th Circuit here and here.
