Washington, D.C. (RI) — Iowa Congressman Randy Feenstra says a deal is near that would allow fuel with a blend of up to 15 percent ethanol and 85 percent gasoline to be sold year round.
Feenstra is one of the leaders of the House Rural Domestic Energy Council that was set up in January when the year-round E15 policy was stripped from a budget bill. The group met yesterday.
House Republican leaders gave the group until February 25th to submit a bill for a vote on the House floor. EPA concerns about smog during the summer months have prevented the nationwide sale of E15 from June 1st to September 15th, but the policy has been suspended in Iowa and other Midwest states.
National media outlets like Politico report that the proposal would end the long effort to authorize E15 sales nationwide all year long, limit the number of ethanol blending exemptions granted to small oil refineries, and prevent those operations from passing along the waiver to another refinery.
Feenstra says President Trump’s statement in Iowa last month that he’d sign the year-round E15 legislation was extremely helpful in negotiations.
A majority of the fuel sold at U.S. gas stations has 10 percent ethanol. The executive director of the Iowa Renwable Fuels Association says expanding E15 sales would create brand new market demand for ethanol.
KIWA Staff Photo
