E15 summertime waiver still not official

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E15 summertime waiver still not official

Supporters of year-round E15 are waiting for the Biden administration to make the summertime emergency waiver official.

Iowa Renewable Fuels Association director Monte Shaw tells Brownfield it appears EPA will wait until closer to June 1st to finalize a rule allowing E15 sales this summer.

“I would like to see it out now because some of the terminals need to know what’s going on so they can continue to send E15 to the retail locations during the month of May. Because their rules change May 1st (and) the retailer’s rules change June 1st.”

But he suspects the agency is simply waiting so the emergency waiver doesn’t have to be renewed as often.

“They insist it’s coming, they insist it will be straightforward, and they insist that it will be renewed through the entire 2022 summer. So we’re excited about that (and) thanked President Biden for doing that.”

Shaw is hoping for a long-term solution but says legislation in Congress to make year-round E15 permanent can’t seem to gain much traction.  He suggests states have power under the Clean Air Act to fix it but points out that would be a state-by-state approach.

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