Today, in comments delivered during a public hearing hosted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Growth Energy, the nation’s leading biofuels trade association, urged EPA to finalize its proposal to implement the request of eight midwestern Governors to “opt-out” of the one-psi Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) waiver, as well as to issue an emergency RVP waiver by this summer that would allow fuel retailers to continue selling E15—a lower-cost, lower-carbon fuel blend made with 15% biofuels.
EPA hosted the hearing in reference to its recent proposal that implements the request of eight midwestern Governors to allow for permanent year-round sale of E15, but only starting in 2024. Without an emergency RVP waiver in place by June 1, 2023, consumers would lose access to E15 for the upcoming summer driving season and many fuel retailers would stop offering E15 altogether.
“It is vital that EPA finalize this proposal to be effective next summer, and, in the meantime, issue an emergency RVP waiver for 2023, so that E15 will remain available year-round as it has since the summer of 2019,” said Growth Energy Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Chris Bliley in his remarks at the hearing. “The benefits are clear: if adopted nationally, E15 would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 17 million tons, the equivalent of taking nearly 4 million cars off the road and would save consumers more than $20B in fuel costs while creating nearly 190,000 new jobs.”
In his statement, Bliley also urged EPA not to be dissuaded by oil industry interests who have sought to use outdated regulations to deny consumers access to E15, which can be used in 96 percent of vehicles on the road today. “EPA must finalize this important rule, provide an emergency RVP waiver for this summer, and ignore the smokescreen of claims made by the oil industry to maintain their grip on the American gas tank,” he concluded.
A full copy of Bliley’s comments is available here.
