Farmers, Ethanol Industry Workers Call for Summertime E15 Waiver

April 04, 2024

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(Renewable Fuels Association) Nearly 1,000 farmers, ethanol industry workers and other supporters from across the country sent a letter to President Biden today calling on his administration to take action to allow continued access to E15 throughout the upcoming summer driving season. E15 is a lower-cost, lower-carbon gasoline blend containing 15 percent ethanol.

“With the 2024 summer driving season just a few months away, we are urging your administration to take additional action that will ensure consumers across the nation have uninterrupted access to lower-cost, lower-carbon E15,” the letter states. “Allowing gasoline blenders and retailers to sell E15 this summer would help moderate prices at the pump, extend fuel supplies, and deliver relief to American families at a time of year when gasoline prices typically are at their highest. Today, E15 is selling for 10- 25 cents per gallon less than standard E10 gasoline, allowing the average American household to save $125-200 on its annual gasoline bill.”

The letter concludes, “As war in Ukraine and unrest in the Middle East continue to create turbulence in the global fuel market, we encourage you to continue embracing year-round E15—a domestic solution that enhances energy security, reduces emissions, and bolsters American agriculture.”

Click here for more information on the need for summertime E15. Earlier this week, in an RFA blog post, Chief Economist Scott Richman estimated that U.S. sales of the E15 fuel blend hit a record 1.11 billion gallons in 2023. Last week, RFA and allies sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency, calling on Administrator Michael Regan to act swiftly on an emergency waiver for E15 sales.

In February of this year, EPA granted a petition from eight Midwest governors to allow year-round sales of E15. However, the petition only applies to those eight states and does not go into effect until 2025, creating uncertainty about the status of E15 for the summer of 2024. READ MORE

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Ethanol Blog: Hundreds of Farmers, Ethanol Workers Ask Biden to Issue E15 Waiver for Summer (DTN Progressive Farmer)
Farmers and Ethanol Workers Call for E15 Waiver (Energy.AgWired.com)
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ANNUAL E15 WAIVER PROCESS SHOULDN’T BE NECESSARY (Brownfield Ag News)
Summertime E15 waiver decision timeline (Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network; includes AUDIO)
FARMERS, ETHANOL INDUSTRY CALL FOR E15 WAIVER (News Dakota)
PUBLIC FORUM: Motorists need biofuel option (Daily News/Nuvu Fuels Michigan)
CONTINUOUS E15 AVAILABILITY REQUIRES EMERGENCY WAIVER NOW (Brownfield Ag News; includes AUDIO)
Policy quick hits: Is a summer E15 waiver coming? (Farm Progress)
Within Grasp: Getting Year-Round E15 Done (Ethanol Producer Magazine)

Excerpt from Brownfield Ag News: The President and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association says the annual ritual of asking the EPA for a summertime E15 waiver should not be necessary.

Geoff Cooper tells Brownfield, “For the past several years, we’ve been asking the administration, whether it’s the Biden administration or the Trump administration before that for some sort of regulatory action that will allow retailers to keep selling E15 and allow consumers to keep buying that product during the summer months.”

Cooper says this could be resolved once and for all with Congressional action. “There have been bills introduced to do it. Those bills have support not only from out industry and from farmers, but also from the oil industry so in our view, let’s solve this thing and put it behind us so we can move on to something else and we’re not spending time on this each and every springtime.”

Cooper says eight Midwestern Governors have gotten tired of waiting for Congress to resolve the year-round E15 issue and successfully petitioned EPA under the Clean Air Act, but EPA delayed implementation until 2025 meaning those states will also need a waiver to sell E15 this summer. READ MORE

Excerpt from Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network: RFA Senior Vice President for Government Affairs Troy Bredenkamp says the Environmental Protection Agency must decide soon on an E15 waiver for this summer, ahead of a more permanent E15 rule going into effect next year.

He says last year’s emergency waiver was announced on April 28th. That has industry members hopeful for a similar timeline this year.

The ethanol industry is waiting for the administration to decide the final greenhouse gas modeling known as GREET. That decision will determine must-have tax breaks for sustainable aviation fuel or ‘SAF,’ which would provide a large potential new market.

SAF is a potential growth boom for the renewable fuels industry, with estimates of a 36-billion-gallon new market powering planes. That would be more than twice the current ethanol fuel use. READ MORE

Excerpt from Daily News/Nuvu Fuels Michigan: During a recent trip to Washington, D.C., our team at Nuvu Fuels met with Rep. Elissa Slotkin on Capitol Hill. Alongside other advocates from Growth Energy, we had the opportunity to speak up on behalf of our customers who have come to rely on fuel savings offered by affordable, American-made biofuels.

Most urgently, our conversation focused on the immediate need for an emergency waiver for E15, a low-cost, low-carbon biofuel blend. If President Biden doesn’t act swiftly, motorists across America could lose access to this fuel option on June 1 due to outdated summertime restrictions.

At Nuvu Fuels Michigan, we operate five retail locations in West Michigan that provide drivers the option to fill up on E15. Our customers appreciate having access to affordable options at the pump and count on E15 to fuel their daily lives.

For the past two years, the Biden administration has waived summertime restrictions on E15 to deliver cost savings to motorists, and this year should be no different. If President Biden acts now, drivers can continue to save money at the pump all summer long. READ MORE