Ethanol backers are once again urging President Biden to grant a summertime waiver for E15 sales after the EPA delayed until next year the effective date of its permanent sales okay in eight Midwest states.
The frustration is obvious.
“If this is within the law, 2025 into the future, then what in the heck, why wouldn’t the president do it for 2024?
And Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley complains another E15 summertime waiver wouldn’t be needed if EPA hadn’t dragged its feet until the states started court action.
“The possibility of court action, and how specific the legislation is saying that the governors have that authority, I think EPA finally and belatedly agreed.”
The Renewable Fuels Association accused EPA of “foot-dragging” for more than 500 days after the deadline to act on the governors’ request and now claims there’s not enough time to act for this summer.
Meantime, lawmakers from Illinois to Minnesota and Nebraska to North Dakota have offered a permanent legislative fix for year-round sales of higher ethanol blends. But RFA complains that some East Coast refiners and their Senate allies oppose the Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act that its backers argue would reduce emissions and fuel prices.
Ethanol producers also see higher blends as a way to offset falling fuel demand as more electric vehicles are sold over time.
-NAFB