BarbriSFCourseDetails
  • videocam Live Online with Live Q&A
  • calendar_month January 8, 2026 @ 1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT
  • signal_cellular_alt Intermediate
  • card_travel Energy
  • schedule 90 minutes

Biofuels Energy Counsel Update: RFS Litigation, LCFS Amendments, Increased E15 Access, 45Z Credit Strategy

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Description

Attendees will gain practical insight into how legal, policy, and regulatory changes may impact the market and how counsel may advise clients on infrastructure considerations, finance, and tax strategies as a result. The panel will discuss how federal initiatives may shape how widely biofuels are used and adopted, along with the market or legal barriers that could slow progress

Listen as our panel provides updates on market drivers, deal and document best practices and takeaways, and preparing clients for the shifting renewable fuels landscape.  

Presented By

David M. McCullough
Partner
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

Mr. McCullough is recognized for his experience in the production, trade, shipment and use of renewable fuels, renewable natural gas, low-carbon energy and products, environmental and carbon credits, petroleum products and other energy commodities. He serves as legal counsel on cutting-edge energy matters, including the development, acquisition and sale of renewable natural gas (RNG) facilities, advanced recycling facilities, renewable diesel and sustainable aviation refineries, carbon capture projects, reforestation projects and other low-carbon investments. For the past 15 years, Mr. McCullough has helped guide the energy industry on the implementation of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and state low-carbon fuel standards (LCFS). He has been involved in almost every significant development associated with those programs, including not only investments and acquisitions incentivized by the RFS and LCFS, but also regulatory matters related to the implementation of every RFS rulemaking to date and some of the largest enforcement proceedings brought to date. Mr. McCullough has developed what have largely become industry standard terms for the trade of RNG, RINs and LCFS credits, having served as counsel on over 40 RNG offtake transactions. He counsels clients on the reduction of greenhouse gas emission and cap-and-trade programs, carbon emission allowance and carbon offset trading, having helped form numerous funds to buy and hold carbon allowances and LCFS credits.

Credit Information
  • This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.


  • Live Online


    On Demand

Date + Time

  • event

    Thursday, January 8, 2026

  • schedule

    1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT

I. Introduction and 2025 overview

II. Renewable Fuel Standard Set Rule litigation update

III. E15 "Year-Round"

IV. California LCFS Amendment

V. Federal tax credits: §45Z guidance

VI. Putting it together: practical deal strategy and regulatory compliance best practices

VII. Practitioner takeaways

The panel will discuss these and other important topics:

  • The most consequential 2025 changes affecting biofuels sales, compliance, and credit monetization
  • Drafting/renegotiating contracts to address CI pathways, credit ownership, and regulatory change
  • Understanding the 2025–2026 policy landscape: RFS Set Rule remand (no vacatur), E15 year-round in most Midwest states, LCFS amendment effects, and §45Z mechanics
  • Aligning contract terms with §45Z eligibility, registration, and emissions-rate tables; understanding LCFS credit impacts and constraints on feedstocks