Corn Farmers Advocate Calls for EPA Deregulation on E15 Fuel

A renewable fuels and corn farmers' advocate is urging the EPA to "deliver" on President Donald Trump's promise to fix a regulatory barrier that prevents gas stations from selling 15 percent ethanol blends year-round.

In an opinion piece posted in The Hill, Steve Roe, the general manager of Little Sioux Corn Processors in Marcus, Iowa, and a board member of the Renewable Fuels Association, argues the "quirky EPA regulation" banning 15 percent ethanol blends all year — known as E15 — "offers no environmental or economic benefit whatsoever."

"We hope EPA's new acting administrator Andrew Wheeler, who visited Iowa earlier this week, acts swiftly to deliver on his boss' promise of year-round E15," Roe wrote, saying Trump declared in Iowa last month the administration was "very close" to fixing the barrier.

"E15 is a win for drivers who would see lower costs and greater choice at the pump," Roe said. "And, year-round E15 is a win for Iowa's farmers, who would see a badly needed demand boost for their corn."

Roe said Wheeler's predecessor at the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, "handed out waivers allowing some oil refiners to ignore their legal obligations to blend ethanol under the Renewable Fuel Standard."

Roe said a fix is especially important to Iowa farmers now with "both corn prices and ethanol profit margins sinking."

"The summertime ban on E15 stems from classic Washington red tape and bureaucracy," Roe wrote. "It blocks competition, kills jobs, and prevents Americans from accessing cleaner, lower-cost, higher octane fuel during the busiest travel period of the year."

"President Trump has promised to drain the swamp of cumbersome and unnecessary regulations that have hampered growth," he continued. "It's hard to imagine a better target."

According to Roe, consumers blocked from accessing E15 are spending at least an extra 7 cents per gallon on gasoline, "translating into $6 billion – or approximately $80 per household – on a national basis," according to his association's analysis.

• Biofuel Groups Ask US to Slow Small Refinery Waiver Program
• Year-Round Sale of E15 Gasoline Part of Trump's Biofuel Deal