Cross-party governors urge EPA to remove E15 hurdle

A cross-party group of Midwest governors is urging the US Environmental Protection Agency to remove what they call a key hurdle that prevents the sale of motor fuel with 15% ethanol during the summer.

In a letter sent yesterday to the EPA’s administrator Gina McCarthy, the governors pointed out that gasoline with 10% ethanol gets a regulatory waiver allowing it to be sold from 1 June to 15 September. The governors urged the EPA to grant a similar waiver to fuel containing a 15% ethanol, a move that would prompt more fuel stations to carry E15 and higher blends.

The governors also point out there is no scientific evidence to support the “inequitable” treatment of the two blends. The EPA doesn’t allow E15 to be sold in the summer in conventional fuel areas without using a special low-volatility gasoline. The reason is the E15 blend would exceed the summer limit on how easily it would change into a vapour. The E10 blend has a waiver for the summer.

Currently, more than 300 fuel stations across the US offer drivers the choice of E15, and that number is growing as a result of the USDA Biofuels Infrastructure Partnership and industry efforts such as Prime the Pump. However, the existing number of E15 stations is only a fraction of the more than 150,000 fuel stations nationwide.

The governors wrote that station owners tell them that the greatest obstacle to offering E15 is the inequitable RVP regulation of E10 and E15. The governors stated: “This unbalanced RVP treatment makes it extraordinarily difficult for retailers in a conventional fuel area to offer E15 year round as a registered fuel (available to all 2001 and newer light-duty, passenger vehicles).”

The governors concluded: “EPA has the statutory authority to eliminate this unnecessary regulatory hurdle. We strongly urge you to act now to correct the unfair RVP treatment for E15.”