The Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) Coalition in a public hearing last week urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to allow increased production for its members.

The comments regard EPA’s proposed volume limits under the 2018 renewable fuel standard (RFS), which could impact the near-term growth of RNG use in alternative fuel transportation fleets. Using data from RNG producers, the coalition presented 62 project affidavits to EPA.

RNG, in recent years mostly has been generated by cellulosic biofuel registered under the RFS program. RNG has supplied 98% of the cellulosic biofuel market since it received EPA designation in 2014, according to Ameresco spokesperson Ashley Patterson.

In other natural gas fueling news, Clean Energy Fuels Corp. has inked contract extensions to supply Redeem brand RNG totaling more than 2.25 million/year in gasoline gallon equivalents (GGE) in the form of compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquefied natural gas (LNG).

The Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) system, which has four CNG fueling facilities, extended its operation/maintenance contract for four years with Clean Energy. DART estimated that it would dispense about 40 million GGEs of fuel during the period.

California-based Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit and Orange County Transportation Authority also extended their LNG fueling contracts, while Fresno, CA, and Tempe, AZ, along with the National Park Service in the Grand Canyon and Kings County Area Public Transit in Hanford, CA, signed operations and maintenance agreements.

Clean Energy also added three U.S. Postal Service (USPS) carriers to its customer list, including St. Augustine, FL-based Postal Fleet Services, Thunder Ridge Transport, a carrier servicing 13 states, and Florida-based Edward Zengel & Sons. The addition brings USPS carriers fueled by Clean Energy to 13.

Ruan Transportation Management Systems also has awarded Clean Energy a fueling contract for CNG trucks operating from Dallas and Austin, TX. And Food Express, based in Arcadia, CA, plans to begin fueling with Clean Energy for routes in Southern California.

Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LAMTA) also has approved the purchase of 360 more CNG buses. LAMTA currently operates the largest CNG fleet in the nation with 2,250 buses.