The government could issue an updated target for biofuel use by late spring or early summer, said EPA administrator Gina McCarthy at the North American Agricultural journalists meeting. She said the plan would take into account a recent upturn in fuel use by cars and trucks. “It will make a difference in the final amounts,” said McCarthy.
“That’s usually the case,” McCarthy replied when asked if EPA might settle on different targets than it presented initially. EPA received 200,000 comments on its proposal to relax the mandate for biofuels use. “Our goal is to issue the final rule in late spring or early summer,” she said.
The oil industry has argued for a lower ethanol mandate because gasoline consumption has been stagnant while the 2007 energy law calls for larger annual use of corn-based ethanol and “advanced” biofuels made from grass, wood and other biomass. The new generation fuels have been slow to come to market. Presented in November, the proposal could set the corn ethanol mandate at close to 2013 levels rather than the higher figure set by the 2007 law of 14.4 bln gallons.