(KIWA Staff Photo)
Statewide Iowa (RI) — Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig is urging the U.S. Senate to advance legislation that would override longstanding EPA guidelines and allow E15 to be sold nationwide year-round.
The year-round E15 policy was removed from the Farm Bill before it passed the House this spring, but in May, the House approved a stand-alone bill on the issue.
The bill has stalled in the Senate, and the Republican chairman of the Senate Ag Committee has proposed a Farm Bill that does not include year-round E15.
E15 supporters are weighing whether accepting concessions on some refinery exemptions could be key to getting year-round E15 into the spending package congressional leaders are developing. The House has already added policies — including a photo ID requirement for voting — to the legislation.
EPA air-quality regulations prohibit E15 sales from June 1st through September 15th due to smog concerns, but the agency has waived that rule this summer.
