The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) punted on setting quotas for the use of renewable fuels in 2014 and pledged to lay out next year targets for 2014 to 2016.

Almost a year late in setting rules for using ethanol, biodiesel and cellulosic fuels in gasoline, the EPA abandoned trying to act before year end. The agency could waive the requirements for 2014 altogether or accept whatever has been produced as meeting the mandate.

“Finalization of the 2014 standards rule has been significantly delayed,” EPA said in a statement published on its website. “Due to this delay, and given ongoing consideration of the issues presented by the commenters, EPA is not in a position to finalize the 2014 RFS standards rule before the end of the year.”

Lobbyists for oil companies, who oppose the law that requires petroleum products to be displaced by other ingredients, said the EPA isn’t capable of managing the program and urged Congress to scrap the law altogether.

“This just confirms the mismanagement of this program,” Bob Greco, downstream fuel director of the American Petroleum Institute, said in an interview. Refiners “will go the entire year without knowing what the requirement is.”

Suit planned

Brooke Coleman, executive director of the Advanced Ethanol Council, said that the practical impact of the EPA’s decision is that 2014 “is a time-out year” and predicted the agency would end up accepting what’s already been produced as the standard for this year.

“Practically speaking that’s what we had already” because the decision is so delayed, he said.

The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, which represents companies including Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp., said it will sue the EPA for failing to issue this year’s targets.

“Congress needs to step in and repeal or significantly reform this badly broken program,” Charles Drevna, president of the group, said in a statement. A spokesman said the suit had been planned prior to the EPA announcement and the group would go forward with the plan.