LINCOLN, Neb. (DTN) -- The Trump administration reportedly is considering a plan to address a backlog of small-refinery exemptions to the Renewable Fuel Standard, according to a report from Reuters on Thursday.

During the Biden administration the EPA received a growing number of SRE requests, at last count stood at more than 160.

The Reuters report, backed by three unnamed sources "familiar with the plans," should be considered with a bit of caution. No one in the administration has publicly addressed what if any plans there are for SREs.

If the report is true, it would be consistent with how the first Trump administration handled SREs as more than 80 such exemptions were granted in four years.

When contacted by DTN, EPA Associate Administrator Molly Vaseliou would neither confirm nor deny the Reuters report.

"First it was EPA is both approving and denying hundreds of small-refinery exemptions, now rumors are swirling around how the agency will treat exemptions," Vaseliou said.

"I'm convinced this is coming from people trying to impact RIN (renewable identification numbers) markets and they are succeeding in doing so."