Growth Energy Applauds Progress on E15 Approval in California Public Comment DEADLINE September 14, 2026

July 29, 2026

Print This Article Share it With Friends

(Growth Energy) Growth Energy, the nation’s largest biofuel trade association, applauded the California Air Resources Board (CARB) today for proposing regulations required to fully implement the state legislature’s approval of E15, a fuel made with 15% American ethanol that can be used in 96% of all cars on the road today.

The proposed rule would establish the technical standards necessary to bring E15 to California’s fuel pumps, giving drivers access to a cleaner-burning, more affordable fuel option that has saved consumers 30 cents less per gallon on average in other states.

“CARB’s proposed rulemaking represents a critical step toward getting E15 into the fuel tanks of California drivers, who are looking for ways to save money,” said Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor. “We applaud the agency for maintaining an approach that is consistent with interim rules adopted following passage of AB30 to make E15 available to California drivers.”

California’s approval of E15 in 2025 opened the door for significant economic benefits to the state’s drivers and agricultural economy. With E15 now legal in all 50 states, California’s implementation of the necessary regulations will unlock new markets for American farmers while delivering immediate savings at the pump.

Skor added: “We thank Governor Newsom, Assembly Members David Alvarez, Cottie Petrie-Norris, Heath Flora, and the California Problem Solvers Caucus who have made lower-cost fuel options a top priority, as well as regulators at CARB. We will continue to work with them to make retailer and consumer access to E15 as easy as possible. We also continue to work closely with the State Fire Marshal’s office to clear the final regulatory barriers to bigger savings at the pump.” READ MORE

Related articles

California proposes E15 rules as groups press for state action (Agri-Pulse)
CARB Schedules Hearing on E15 (Energy.AgWired.com)
Title 13. California Air Resources Board -- Notice of Public Hearing to Consider Proposed Amendments to the California Reformulated Gasoline Regulations (California Air Resources Board)
California Finally to Write the Rules for E15 — But the Pump is Still a Long Way Off (AgBull)
Notice of Public Hearing to Consider Proposed Amendments to the California Reformulated Gasoline Regulations for E15 (California Air Resources Board)
CARB Proposes E15 Rules Amid Continued Ethanol-Sector Frustration (Inside EPA)
On E15, Gavin Newsom can help California, Iowa and himself | Opinion (Mike Gronstal/Des Moines Register)
Smoothing the way for E15 could be the wrong move | Opinion -- The most appealing presidential candidate in Iowa and elsewhere might be the person who can assist farmers in developing a more stable financial future than the one that depends on ethanol markets. (Des Moines Register)
IRFA: California bureaucracy turns E15 win-win into a lose-lose (Iowa Renewable Fuels Association/Ethanol Producer Magazine)

Excerpt from Agri-Pulse: California has proposed regulations for sales of the higher ethanol-fuel blend. Regulators plan to consider the pending E15 rules at a Sept. 24 hearing in Sacramento.

...

“We continue to believe the fire marshal should accept manufacturer statements regarding the compatibility of their vapor recovery equipment with E15. Those conversations are ongoing with the fire marshal, governor’s office, manufacturers, CARB, and fuel retailers,” RFA CEO Geoff Cooper said in a statement on Wednesday. “E15 is selling for 20-40 cents per gallon less than E10 where it is being offered today,” according to Cooper. “Unfortunately, California drivers are missing out on these savings all because of unnecessary regulatory burdens and inaction by the fire marshal’s office.” READ MORE

Excerpt from Energy.AgWired.com: The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has scheduled a public hearing for September 24 to consider approving the technical standards necessary to finally get E15 (15% ethanol fuel) at the pump, nearly a year after the state legislature unanimously passed legislation allowing its sale.

On October 2 last year, Governor Gavin Newsom signed the legislation which “was effective upon enactment and immediately allowed blends of gasoline containing 10.5% to 15% ethanol (E15) by volume to be sold in the State for use as a transportation fuel.” However, that has not happened yet.

“California drivers, unfortunately, for the last nine months or more have missed out on the savings that they could have had with E15,” said Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper. “The legislature passed it unanimously. The governor signed it into law. Where is this fuel? And people are starting to pay attention…So hopefully we’re going to have a breakthrough in California on E15 soon, in the weeks or months ahead so that fuel can start flowing into that market.”

Cooper noted that the state Fire Marshall has thrown up one hurdle in particular and raised concerns about equipment compatibility. “And that’s been enough to slow the whole thing way down. So we’re working, trying to work through that as quickly as possible,” said Cooper.

The public comment period for CARB’s regulatory action will begin on July 31. READ MORE

Excerpt from Ag Bull: The mechanics: CARB’s proposed rulemaking would amend the California reformulated gasoline (CaRFG) regulations to establish fuel specifications and test-method standards for gasoline blended with 15% ethanol, formally folding E15 into the state’s fuel-quality regime. The board hearing is set for 9 a.m. Pacific on Thursday, Sept. 24, in Sacramento, with in-person and Zoom participation, following the standard 45-day public comment window. If the board adopts the package, it still must clear the Office of Administrative Law before taking effect — a step that typically pushes the effective date months beyond the vote.

...

Why that last clause matters: the CARB rulemaking is necessary but not sufficient. Even a smooth Sept. 24 adoption leaves a second, independent gate standing — the State Fire Marshal’s equipment-certification requirement — and that gate, not CARB, now looks like the binding constraint on when Californians actually see E15 at retail.

...

The consumer math is similarly attractive. A study by UC Berkeley and U.S. Naval Academy economists, cited throughout the AB 30 debate, projected statewide E15 availability would trim pump prices by about 20 cents a gallon and save California drivers roughly $2.7 billion a year — about $200 per household — in a state with the nation’s most expensive gasoline. Real-world data from functioning E15 markets brackets that estimate: Minnesota’s 2024 average discount was 18 cents versus E10, while RFA says current discounts run 20 to 40 cents where E15 is offered today.

...

Meanwhile, the rest of the country keeps demonstrating what California is missing. U.S. E15 sales jumped 23% in 2025 to a record 1.52 billion gallons, and the station count grew by 900 — as many as the prior two years combined — to about 4,600 nationwide. Iowa alone sold more than 410 million gallons (up 60%, driven by its E15 access standard), and Minnesota moved 169 million gallons.

...

The fire marshal’s roadblock

The hurdle that has turned a nine-month-old law into zero gallons sold sits in an office most fuel-policy watchers had never mapped: the California State Fire Marshal. California is the only state that still requires enhanced (Stage II-style) vapor recovery systems at the pump, and the fire marshal has taken the position that E15 cannot be dispensed until those systems are formally certified as compatible with the fuel — a certification process IRFA warns could take two years.

The industry’s counterarguments are substantive. Modern vehicles carry onboard refueling vapor recovery, which is why the U.S. EPA allowed every other state to decommission Stage II equipment years ago — some research suggests running both systems simultaneously can actually increase emissions. Equipment manufacturers have stated their hardware is compatible with E15, and the components were already exposed to E15 during their original E10-era testing. “We continue to believe the fire marshal should accept manufacturer statements regarding the compatibility of their vapor recovery equipment with E15,” Cooper said Wednesday, noting conversations are ongoing with the fire marshal, the governor’s office, manufacturers, CARB and fuel retailers. Growth Energy says it is working the same channels.

But the fire marshal has shown little urgency. “The state fire marshal has dug in. They don’t seem like they’re ready to move,” RFA’s Robert White told an industry audience in June. RFA has asked the state to use enforcement discretion — allowing E10-certified equipment to dispense E15 while formal certification proceeds — and so far has not gotten it. IRFA Executive Director Monte Shaw was blunter in July, accusing “one bureaucrat” of turning “a win-win into a lose-lose.”

...

The Sept. 24 board vote is the next checkpoint, and approval looks likely given CARB’s own findings that E15 modestly reduces emissions relative to E10. From there, watch the OAL clock for the rule’s actual effective date, and — more importantly — watch for any movement by the fire marshal toward accepting manufacturer compatibility statements in lieu of a multi-year certification. That single administrative choice is worth more to 2027 California E15 volumes than anything CARB does in September.

The federal backdrop matters too. Nationwide E15 sold this summer only under EPA emergency waivers issued in rolling 20-day increments starting May 1. A permanent fix — the Nationwide Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act (HR 1346), which pairs year-round E15 with small-refinery-exemption reforms — passed the House 218-203 on May 13 but awaits Senate action. A California market that finally opens in 2027 would be worth far more to ethanol producers if year-round certainty is law by then. READ MORE

Excerpt from California Air Resources Board: Written Comment Period & Comment Submittal

In accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act, interested members of the public may present comments orally or in writing during the hearing and may provide comments by postal mail or by electronic submittal before the hearing. The public comment period for this regulatory action will begin on July 31, 2026. Written comments not submitted during the hearing must be submitted on or after July 31, 2026, and received no later than Monday September 14, 2026. Comments submitted outside that comment period are considered untimely. CARB may, but is not required to, respond to untimely comments, including those raising significant environmental issues. The Board also encourages members of the public to bring to the attention of staff in advance of the hearing any suggestions for modification of the proposed regulatory action. Comments submitted in advance of the hearing must be addressed to one of the following:

Clerk of the Board, California Air Resources Board 1001 I Street, Sacramento, California 95814

Electronic Submittal

READ MORE

Excerpt from Mike Gronstal/Des Moines Register: Opportunity is pounding on Newsom’s door. He should finish what he started by picking up the phone and directing the fire marshal’s office to get E15 fully implemented in California immediately.

Sometimes, opportunity knocks. But right now, it is pounding on California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s door. With a simple phone call, Newsom could unleash E15 in California, simultaneously providing lower-cost fuel to his state while also garnering praise from Iowa farmers and one-upping President Donald Trump, who has been unable to deliver on his E15 promises. What is he waiting for? READ MORE