Iowa Congressman Randy Feenstra says a deal is near that would allow fuel with a blend of up to 15 percent ethanol and 85 percent gasoline to be sold year round. Feenstra is one of the leaders of the House Rural Domestic Energy Council that was set up in January when the year-round E-15 policy was stripped from a budget bill. The group met on Wednesday.
“This is full on, year round E15 and we worked with the small, midsized and large refiners,” Feenstra says. “We worked with all the biofuels folks. We believe we’ve got something that works for all farmers…We’ve got to get it across the finish line.”
House Republican leaders gave the group until February 25th to submit a bill for a vote on the House floor. EPA concerns about smog during the summer months have prevented the nationwide sale of E-15 from June 1st to September 15th, but the policy has been suspended in Iowa and other Midwest states. National media outlets like Politico report the proposal that would end the long effort to authorize E-15 sales nationwide all year long would limit the number of ethanol blending exemptions granted to small oil refineries and prevent those operations from passing along the waiver to another refinery. Feenstra says President Trump’s statement — in Iowa last month — that he’d sign the year-round E-15 legislation was extremely helpful in negotiations.
“Agriculture’s the backbone of this state and we have to make sure we’re helping our farmers and that means opening new markets,” Feenstra said. “We don’t want handouts. We want new markets.”
A majority of the fuel sold at U.S. gas stations has 10 percent ethanol. The executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association says expanding E-15 sales would create brand new market demand for ethanol.
