RFA President Says February Not Soon Enough for E15 Rulemaking

October 22, 2018

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(WNAX) This week, the Environmental Protection Agency published its rule making agenda for 2019 and in it said they’’ll start the rulemaking process for year-round use of E15 in February of next year. Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper says they wanted to see the rulemaking start sooner than that.

With the February starting date, the EPA expects to finalize the rule by May of next year. Cooper says that’s also concerning because it doesn’t give any certainty to retailers who want to sell E15.

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Cooper says two other things that will further slow the rulemaking is the expected opposition from the oil industry as well as the EPA including RINS transparency as part of the E15 rulemaking. He was hoping that would be handled in a separate rule making process. READ MORE includes AUDIO

EPA chief says agency can expand ethanol sales without Congress (Reuters)

Iowa lawmaker urges EPA to speed up rule expanding ethanol sales (Reuters)

Voice of the Reader: Put American farmers first (Southern Illinoisan)

E15 Demand Growth Seen Limited (DTN The Progressive Farmer)

THERE’S DOUBT E15 RELIEF CAN OCCUR BY JUNE 2019 (Brownfield Ag News)

EPA CHIEF SAYS AGENCY CAN EXPAND ETHANOL SALES WITHOUT CONGRESS (Successful Farming)

EPA Races Clock on 2019 E15 Sales Rule: Renewable Fuels Association President Wants EPA E15 Rule Release Prior to February (DTN The Progressive Farmer)

Concerns Raised About E15 Rulemaking Delay (Energy.AgWired.com; includes AUDIO)

RFA PANEL ADDRESSES QUESTIONS ON E15 (Brownfield Ag News; includes AUDIO)

RFA hosts discussion to dispel E15 myths and misinformation (Ethanol Producer Magazine)

Renewable fuels group pushes back against E15 opponents (Agri-Pulse)

Perdue on E-15 Year Round Advancement Efforts (U.S. Department of Agriculture; includes AUDIO)

Worries Over EPA E15 Rule: Ag Secretary Perdue Hears Concerns Over E15 Timeline During South Dakota Visit (DTN The Progressive Farmer)

Ag. Secretary Perdue speaks with South Dakota producers (KTIV; includes VIDEO)

Excerpt from Reuters: The EPA has since said it will finish deliberations on a proposal to lift the ban by May, a timeline the administration hopes will put the rule in place before summer. But (Iowa Senator Chuck) Grassley said that was too slow.

“EPA ought to speed it up. Otherwise it is going to look like the President wasn’t serious in his announcement,” he told a weekly conference call.

“We don’t need a lot of bureaucratic red tape with something that has been discussed in Washington for four to five years, and discussed... specifically with EPA and face-to-face with the President for about a year,” he said. READ MORE

Excerpt from DTN The Progressive Farmer: E15 LEGAL QUESTIONS

(Matt) Morrison, who worked for EPA as acting director and associate director of the air enforcement division in the agency's office of civil enforcement, said he has studied the E15 legal questions. Petroleum interests have stated publicly they intend to sue the EPA if the E15 rule is finalized.

"After analyzing this, it not only has legal authority but it would be consistent with the (Clean Air Act) statute and legislation," he said.

Congress expressly wrote provisions in the CAA to allow for ethanol in gasoline in summer months, Morrison said. Right now E15 sales are restricted between June and September in many areas of the country.

"The answer is pretty clear that it extends to E15," he said.

Petroleum interests and others that oppose year-round E15 sales have been undertaking a public relations campaign. Part of that includes allegations that E15 harms engines and would increase harmful emissions.

Gary Herwick, who worked as an engineer and emissions expert for General Motors for 35 years, was involved in conducting studies on mid-level ethanol blends in 2010 to 2011.

"It was clear there were no effects on vehicles in the model years we studied," he said.

The EPA rule would grant E15 a Reid vapor pressure, or RVP, waiver to allow for year-round sales. The RVP essentially is a measure of fuel volatility.

"E15 volatility is the same as E10," Herwick said. "There really isn't a basis for any of this."

Opponents of E15 have suggested that allowing year-round sales would generate more smog-causing, ozone-depleting pollution.

Janet Yanowitz, an engineer with Ecoengineering, Inc., said those concerns are not backed by science.

"There is no evidence E15 will increase tailpipe emissions," she said. "It is the reason we have oxygenated fuels in the first place -- to reduce carbon monoxide. I don't know where the discussion in the media comes from." READ MORE