Last fall, the EPA said it would investigate whether it has the authority to allow year-round sales of E15, a higher blend of ethanol and gasoline than the traditional 10 percent ratio. Administrator Scott Pruitt said during a Senate hearing that there is no decision yet, reported DTN/ProgressiveFarmer. “This is not a policy issue,” he said. “It’s about the determination of legal authority. We are working to get an answer as soon as we can.”
Year-round sales of E15 are a long-held goal of the biofuels industry because of the possibility for selling more renewable fuel. At the moment, E15 cannot be sold during the summer in two-thirds of the country because of concerns about ozone pollution. Biofuel makers say the EPA should recognize that E15 is a low-volatility fuel and remove the sales restrictions.
At the same time the ethanol industry presses for more sales, an unusually large number of small refiners are seeking waivers from having to comply with the mandate to mix ethanol into gasoline, said Reuters. The largest refiner on the East Coast filed for bankruptcy last week, and blamed its distress on the biofuel mandate. Independent refiners say they are forced to buy expensive credits — so-called RINs — when they cannot blend enough biofuel to satisfy the federal requirement.