The ethanol industry says in a letter to EPA chief Michael Regan that it’s way past time for the agency to ‘green light’ summertime E15 use requested in April 2022 by eight Midwest governors.
The Renewable Fuels Association says the deadline is more than a year old to act on the petition by the governors of Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, Wisconsin, and the Dakotas. RFA president and CEO Geoff Cooper argued earlier that emergency waivers to allow summertime E15 were just a stop-gap solution.
Cooper’s group is asking the Environmental Protection Agency to finalize a summertime E15 rule before the end of this summer and in time for next summer’s driving season.
The RFA argues real-world data showed almost no difference between retail prices for E15 versus conventional gasoline in adjacent markets during the summer 2022 season. In some markets, E15 gas was cheaper. As for E15-related problems, Cooper says they have not manifested.
Yet EPA’s Regan resisted earlier calls from the industry and lawmakers to act on the governors’ E15 petition ahead of this summer, saying an emergency waiver would be needed again.
Cooper argues EPA has all the data it needs to decide. Data that he says “debunks exaggerated claims from some petroleum refiners” of harmful economic impacts from summertime E15 sales.
