Refineries in Billings, Laurel and Great Falls received Environmental Protection Agency exemptions Friday as part of President Trump’s stated goal of strengthening American energy production.

Refiners were exempted from a 2005 federal law that ultimately aims to reduce how heavily consumers rely on fossil fuels by introducing renewable fuels. The exemptions for Montana will allow the refineries to avoid fiscal responsibilities associated with that mandate from the past few years, proving “economic hardship .”

According to the EPA, there was a “backlog” of 175 refinery petitions before the agency resolved them. President Joe Biden’s administration was largely disapproving of the exemptions, reversing Trump exemptions granted in his first term until that decision was overtur

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