Liquid Fuels Groups Announce Progress on E15, Small Refinery Exemption Reform

December 09, 2025

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(American Petroleum Institute) The American Petroleum Institute (API) today (December 4, 2025) joined organizations representing ethanol producers, oil refiners, fuel marketers, travel plazas, truck stops and convenience store retailers to express the need for long-term policy certainty across the transportation fuel sector. In a letter to President Donald Trump, the organizations urged policymakers to advance legislation in support of a stable, efficient fuels marketplace

"Legislation allowing the year-round, nationwide sale of E15 would improve fungibility and substantially reduce many of the complexities that arise for our industries as we operate in a national marketplace," the organizations wrote.

API previously urged congressional leadership to adopt a more balanced and up-to-date approach to E15 legislation given recent changes in the fuels landscape.

The letter also urges the White House to support legislative action providing lasting certainty to this issue and reforming the Small Refinery Exemption (SRE) program.

"The current SRE structure has encouraged a system of winners and losers that distorts the marketplace, creates instability, and ultimately, hurts consumers," the organizations wrote. "A more consistent and narrowly applied SRE structure would create a far more predictable regulatory environment."

Other signatories on the letter included Growth Energy, National Association of Convenience Stores, NATSO, Representing America's Travel Centers and Truck Stops, Renewable Fuels Association, and SIGMA: America's Leading Fuel Marketers.

Click here to view the letter.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) represents all segments of America’s oil and natural gas industry, supporting nearly 11 million U.S. jobs. With approximately 600 members, API companies produce, process, and distribute the majority of the nation’s energy. Founded in 1919, API has developed over 800 standards to enhance operational and environmental safety, efficiency, and sustainability. READ MORE

Related articles

Liquid fuels groups call for E15 progress, SRE reform (Growth Energy/Ethanol Producer Magazine)
US fuel groups eye compromise in E15 talks (Argus Media)
Oil, Biofuels Groups Renew Press For Year-Round E15 As RFS Faces Delay (Inside EPA)
E15 support grows, petroleum industry rejoins push (Brownfield Ag News; includes AUDIO)
Decoding the Outlook for Expanded E15 Distribution (Source North America/Fuels Market News)
Nationwide, year-round E15 nears reality as stakeholders advance D.C. talks (Brownfield Ag News; includes AUDIO)
Indiana Farm Bureau members remain concerned about trade, E-15 moving into 2026 (Brownfield Ag News; includes AUDIO)

Excerpt from Argus Media: Major US fuel groups agree on the framework for a bill that would authorize a higher ethanol blend in gasoline and revamp a separate program requiring biofuel blending. But there is more work ahead before a final deal can be reached, sources told Argus.

The American Petroleum Institute withdrew support earlier this year for a slimmer bill allowing year-round sale of gasoline blends with 15pc ethanol (E15), kickstarting a new round of negotiations. The group has since been pitching the White House and biofuel groups on a larger bill that would both allow E15 and restrict small refiners' ability to skirt biofuel quotas.

The oil group, ethanol advocates and fuel retailers last week publicly endorsed the general framework of a bill to allow year-round E15 and limit small refinery blending exemptions, and negotiations are ongoing. The issue has the attention of President Donald Trump, who asked a farmer at a White House event this week if E15 would be "a big deal".

The US requires oil companies to annually blend biofuels, while allowing small refiners to seek hardship exemptions. Sales of ethanol blends above 10pc are limited in the summer due to smog rules.

Whether the groups can compromise and persuade Congress to act will shape crop demand, biofuel production margins and retail fuel prices in the coming years. Past proposals to legalize E15 year-round, a longtime priority for the ethanol industry, have failed.

The idea

The American Petroleum Institute's pitch for reining in exemptions is to reduce the number of eligible companies and to make it harder for them to prove distress, according to five people familiar with the group's lobbying. A Trump administration plan that would require refiners without exemptions to blend more biofuels to compensate for refiners with exemptions has raised the stakes of the debate and riled larger oil companies.

The oil group has floated restricting exemptions to companies with limited collective refining capacity, excluding larger enterprises like Delek that own multiple smaller units.

The group has also proposed scrapping a Department of Energy hardship scoring system that has yielded unpredictable results over the years and that a 2022 Government Accountability Office study found was "critically flawed".

Instead, refiners would have to prove that hardship stems directly from the biofuel program, and regulators could offer "proportional" exemptions based on the evidence, three of the people said. The US currently waives either all or half of the blend mandates for refiners that prove hardship.

The Trump administration this year granted dozens of requests for exemptions from prior-year mandates, and more petitions are pending.

More work ahead

While these ideas address longstanding concerns from biofuel and crop groups that waivers curb demand for their products, the American Petroleum Institute also wants to permanently bar regulators from requiring other oil companies offset biofuel volumes lost to exemptions — a tougher sell in the Farm Belt.

Another concern is timing. The American Petroleum Institute initially pushed for the exemption changes and ban on redistributing biofuel obligations to take effect next year. But some energy lobbyists want a delay until 2028, fearing that immediate changes could delay the Trump administration's work to finalize new biofuel blend mandates, three people said. New quotas for 2026 and 2027 are already late.

Oil interests outside the American Petroleum Institute could also push back if negotiations advance. Refiners so far have been divided. Some want to protect their ability to win lucrative exemptions, while others have long taken issue with special rules for their competitors and hotly oppose Trump's plan to make them blend more biofuels to compensate.

Even if the groups reach a deal, convincing Congress is its own challenge. An E15 proposal last year was pulled out of a larger spending package at the last minute, and farm-state lawmakers have been unsuccessful more recently in their efforts to add E15 to a defense bill. One option lobbyists have eyed is adding any new E15 agreement to legislation to fund the government after 30 January.

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It is not clear how much more ethanol drivers would burn if the US permitted year-round E15. Most gas stations do not currently offer the blend, which advocates blame on regulatory hurdles deterring retailers from investing in new infrastructure. Rising vehicle fuel efficiency and electric vehicle sales have also cut into liquid fuel demand. READ MORE

Excerpt from Brownfield Ag News: Mark Bunselmeyer, who farms in Macon County, says Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has joined the growing list of state leaders calling for Congressional action on the measure.

“Our governor sent a letter to our two senators and our three representatives, that are all part of the ag committee, also requesting this this past month.” He says, “We’re hopeful that we can see that to then have higher blends of ethanol to help farmers.”

He says increasing domestic ethanol use offers long-term potential for corn demand.

“Year-round E15 is no silver bullet.” He says, “As I always tell farmers, we need to encourage the use of our product to go up to people at the station and thank them when they are using E15 or E85.” READ MORE; includes AUDIO

Excerpt from Source North America/Fuels Market News: Momentum is building for E15 to become a dominant year-round fuel across the country. Despite the momentum, getting a sense of the rate of expansion may be challenging for fuel marketers amid the substantial quantity of information surrounding E15.

With that in mind, here are two signs that the distribution of E15 will grow, but perhaps on a protracted timeline.

Year-Round E15 Update

All 50 states are permitted to sell E15, but it is only permanently allowed to be sold year-round in a few. As of Oct. 25, 2025, the year-round sale of E15 is approved in California, and eight Midwestern states — Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Ohio and South Dakota. Emergency waivers issued by the U.S. EPA since 2022 have authorized the nationwide summertime sale of E15. If supply conditions warrant it, the EPA may issue a nationwide emergency waiver for the 2026 summer months.

Although the year-round sale of E15 is “approved” for nine states, that doesn’t necessarily mean widespread implementation of it will be instantaneous. South Dakota, Ohio and California, for example, are all encountering delays.

Citing concerns about supply chain disruptions impacting refining capabilities in South Dakota, the state requested the EPA to allow South Dakota to delay implementation in 9 counties until 2026. Ohio also requested to postpone implementation because of concerns from the state’s petroleum industry about the ability to install the appropriate infrastructure by the original effective date.

Meanwhile, California faces additional regulatory hurdles.

According to a California Air Resources Board (CARB) FAQ, Assembly Bill (AB) 30 authorizes the sale of E15 as transportation fuel in California if it meets “all applicable federal, state and local requirements.”

Compatibility with Stage II and Enhanced Stage I vapor recovery equipment is a requirement that needs to be addressed. The FAQ reports that “most vapor recovery systems will need to be certified for use with E15 since the equipment was certified for use with E10.”

Furthermore, state law requires approval from five agencies before CARB can provide the necessary certifications. “CARB is working with these state agencies to certify E15 equipment in a manner consistent with current regulations,” the FAQ states.

In addition to the vapor recovery certifications, CARB must complete an exhaustive scientific review before it can adopt the final regulatory specification for the fuel blend. So, while progress is being made to provide California motorists access to E15, market introduction of the fuel is far from imminent.

Compatibility and Labeling Requirements

Currently, the EPA stipulates in 40 CFR 280.32 that UST operators who wish to store fuel containing more than 10 percent ethanol must demonstrate UST system compatibility, including the tank, piping, containment sumps, pumping equipment, release detection equipment, spill equipment and overfill equipment. This can be achieved through “certification” or listing of UST system equipment and components by a nationally recognized, independent testing laboratory or by obtaining written approval from the equipment manufacturer.

In July, the Ethanol for America Act of 2025 was introduced to simplify compatibility and E15 labeling requirements. Among other requirement changes, the proposed bill would deem:

Steel and fiberglass USTs manufactured after 2005 compatible with E15
Existing UST systems compliant for storing E15 regardless of whether owners and operators can locate installation or compatibility documentation for those systems

While there is reason for optimism that regulatory requirements may become less restrictive, legislative progress is often in short supply. A speedy passage of the bill is unlikely. READ MORE

Excerpt from Brownfield Ag News: The executive director of the Minnesota Biofuels Association indicates year-round nationwide E15 is getting closer to reality.

Brian Werner says renewable fuel and refiner stakeholders are meeting in Washington D.C.

“And they’re making progress on getting to an agreement on year-round E15. So some changes that would allow E15 to be sold year-round, and also make some changes to how small refinery exemptions are defined.”

He says those talks involve tightening which refiners qualify for SRE’s.

Werner tells Brownfield nationwide E15 legislation could be attached to a skinny farm bill or a continuing resolution.

“I think only 3 of the 12 appropriations bills were year-long appropriations bills in the deal that reopened the federal government. So there’s another kind of funding cliff coming up at the end of January (and) I think that could be another vehicle.”

Werner is hopeful a resolution will be in place before the summer driving season begins with restrictions on E15 sales across much of the U.S. READ MORE; includes AUDIO