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Renewable & Low Carbon Fuels

Contact

David McCullough
Partner, Washington, DC
T: +1.202.663.8060
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Areas of Focus

Pillsbury’s energy and environmental lawyers have advised the renewable and low carbon fuels industry since the very beginning of the modern market. From new entrants to some of the world’s largest producers and traders, our team helps our clients maximize business opportunities, advocate in court and on Capitol Hill, and comply with the legal regimes applicable to the production and trade of ethanol, biodiesel, renewable diesel, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), renewable natural gas (RNG), hydrogen, e-fuels, and fuels derived from low-carbon feedstocks such as recycled plastic.

Our fuels team includes multiple former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) attorneys who advised on the implementation and enforcement of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Our attorneys possess decades of experience advising stakeholders at every stage of the fuel’s lifecycle—from early-stage project development through financing, operations, negotiating offtakes, regulatory compliance and rulemaking challenges. We guide clients as they navigate and leverage the evolving policy, economic and technological frameworks shaping the future of transportation fuels.

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Our legal team includes nationally recognized practitioners in the RFS, California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), and other state and federal clean fuels programs—the laws that are driving the decarbonization of transportation fuel in the United States. As a result, we have been involved in almost every significant development of these programs and the development of nearly all the industry-standard terms to trade renewable fuels. Through our deep knowledge of these programs, we help our clients navigate the increasingly complex regulatory landscape of renewable fuels and unlock the value of these incentives.

We are one of the few legal advisors serving all renewable fuel applications. We regularly provide guidance on:

  • Federal and state rulemakings, enforcement defense, and appellate litigation.
  • Regulatory developments, rulemaking litigation and renewable fuel disputes.
  • Structuring and development of renewable fuel projects (biodiesel, renewable diesel, conventional corn ethanol, RNG/biogas, additional forms of cellulosic and advanced biofuels, clean hydrogen, and SAF).
  • Commercial contracting, including offtake agreements and fuel sales.
  • Environmental and energy credit strategies (RINs, LCFS credits, RECs and offsets).
  • M&A, joint ventures, project finance and private equity investment.

We are trusted by major industry participants—including plant operators, fuel marketers, transportation and aviation companies, investors, and equipment manufacturers—to protect and grow their fuel portfolios.

Representative Experience

End-to-End Transactional and Project Development Support

Our attorneys work seamlessly across Pillsbury’s core disciplines—including Energy, Environmental, Finance, Corporate, and Government Law & Strategies—to support every dimension of client projects. Some of our attorneys drafted the contract original language that has developed into the current industry standard used in contracts for market participants to generate RINs on biogas used as a transportation fuel. Whether counseling on tax credits and grant opportunities or structuring acquisitions and partnerships, our interdisciplinary team brings a strategic lens to every mandate.

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Representative transactional engagements include:

  • Represented global leader in zero-emissions heavy-duty trucks and hydrogen infrastructure in connection with its $300 million equity line of credit with Tumim Stone Capital LLC.
  • Represented SAF producer in multiple contracts to sell SAF to commercial airlines.
  • Represented renewable fuels manufacturer on acquisition and development of converted truck stops into sustainable fuels cardlock and distribution centers for long-haul trucking customer base.
  • Advise renewable energy client on engineering, procurement,construction and financing of a Louisiana renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel manufacturing facility, including sourcing of hydrogen and raw materials.
  • Represented offtaker in the negotiation of a long-term offtake agreement with a renewable diesel production facility.
  • Represented leading RNG company in a $1.15 billion business combination to form the largest publicly traded RNG platform.
  • Represented utility in the acquisition of a company that produces renewable power from biomass fuels.
  • Represented construction engineering company in contract negotiations for project development and finance for Intermountain Power Authority’s hydrogen project.

Litigation

Our advocacy for renewable fuel stakeholders has gone as far as the U.S. Supreme Court, and we regularly litigate questions related to these regulatory programs in federal appellate and district courts.

  • Advised and represented the Renewable Fuels Association at the U.S. Supreme Court in opposing a legal challenge from merchant refiners concerning EPA’s interpretation of the Clean Air Act’s venue provision for judicial appeals of denials of Small Refinery Exemptions (SREs). Environmental Protection Agency v. Calumet Shreveport Refining, L.L.C., 605 U.S. (2025).
  • Advised and represented the Renewable Fuels Association and other biofuels interest groups at the U.S. Supreme Court in challenging the EPA’s decision to grant small refinery exemptions under the RFS program of the Clean Air Act. HollyFrontier Cheyenne Ref., LLC v. Renewable Fuels Ass'n, 594 U.S. 382, 385, 141 S. Ct. 2172, 2175, 210 L. Ed. 2d 547 (2021).
  • Secured numerous victories at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in cases concerning renewable fuel stakeholders.
  • Secured full award at arbitration on behalf of a Japanese petroleum trading company in a dispute regarding a biodiesel tax credit.

Regulatory Counseling

  • We leverage Pillsbury’s relationships at the EPA and Capitol Hill to help renewable fuel stakeholders influence policymakers (in collaboration with Pillsbury’s government law and strategies team). Represented the Low-income Energy Assistance Program (LEAP) in the development of the industry-standard LEAP contracts to trade RINs and LCFS credits.
  • Served as U.S. federal public policy counsel to EDF Renewable Energy North America, representing the client before the White House, federal agencies and leaders in Congress. Secured major client victories for EDF related to federal legislation, such as obtaining favorable language in the annual National Defense Authorization Acts related to energy development near military bases and favorable language lending certainty to energy development on public lands in the enacted Energy Act of 2020.
  • Represented the Renewable Fuel Association, Waste Management and Neste in providing regulatory advice and support regarding renewable fuels-related issues.

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