If it seems like it’s taken forever to secure year-round and nationwide market access for E15, that’s because it has been nearly 15 years, which feels like an eternity.
When EPA approved E15 for 2001 and newer model year vehicles, the Agency did not provide an RVP waiver, despite the fact E15 has slightly lower evaporative emissions than E10. The result; E15 could not be sold as a year-round fuel in all parts of the U.S. (conventional gasoline areas) from June 1 through September 15.
Every ethanol advocate knows a retailer who has complained about how they do not want to go through the hassle of switching out tanks and labels to sell E15 in their stations just part of the year.
We finally made significant progress to rectify this problem when the Biden EPA approved petitions from eight Midwest governors seeking to opt out of the 1lb RVP waiver, enabling Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin to begin year-round E15 sales on April 28, 2025.
This development, and the fact that eight states would have one set of gasoline blendstock rules for E15 and remaining states in conventional gasoline areas would have a different set of blending rules, motivated oil refiners to more aggressively help ethanol and ag interests push Congress to pass bipartisan legislation ensuring E15 could be used permanently nationwide.
During last year’s ACE DC fly-in, Senator Fischer (R-NE) encouraged us to build more support for this legislation so she and others might be in a position to attach it to a must-pass bill. That’s precisely what we did, and during the lame duck Congress we came close to getting it done.
Right before Christmas, House and Senate ethanol champions convinced congressional leadership to attach E15 year-round to a must-pass appropriations bill to avoid a government shutdown. We were on the verge of victory until the richest man in the world and owner of Twitter (now called X) launched a barrage of tweets complaining about the appropriations bill and legislative riders attached to it.
I’m talking about Elon Musk, the CEO of the EV company, Tesla, and self-proclaimed best friend of President Trump. Hours after Musk’s tweetstorm, Trump declared his opposition to the appropriations bill as well, forcing Speaker Johnson to cut several provisions, including E15, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
Despite this disappointment, we are confident E15 year-round has cleared enough hurdles to be included in the first must-pass bill Congress takes up in 2025. We are also encouraged by the new Congress and the support Senator Thune (R-SD) will bring as Majority Leader.
Let’s make 2025 the year this gets done. Join us March 27-28 for the DC fly-in to highlight the importance of E15 and other priorities.