Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds told ethanol industry members Thursday she will do whatever she can, working with other Midwestern governors, to get E15 approved for use this summer.
After receiving the Renewable Fuels Association Industry Award at the group’s National Ethanol Conference, Reynolds reiterated to attendees what she had said Wednesday, after EPA proposed to allow E15 to be used year-round permanently.
The agency said there isn’t enough gasoline available domestically to make the change this year. Instead, EPA said the eight states that asked for the waiver would have to wait until 2024.
“To not be able to have it available this summer is really ridiculous, because they've had plenty of time to respond and to get this done,” Reynolds told reporters following brief remarks at the conference. “We've met every expectation that the White House (and EPA) asked us to meet.”
The governor stressed that by law, EPA had 90 days to respond to the petition submitted in April 2022 by eight Midwestern governors. In remarks to the NEC Wednesday, an EPA official said he could not explain publicly why the process took so long.
Reynolds also said her attorney general is looking at legal options to force EPA to make a decision on a permanent waiver that would allow for E15 use this summer. She added that she has requested a meeting with President Joe Biden to discuss the issue.
“My end goal is to get it for this year,” Reynolds told reporters.
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Reynolds also called carbon capture and sequestration “the future of ethanol, so it's extremely important.” Two major CCS pipelines that have been proposed for the Midwest are strongly supported by the ethanol industry, but are facing opposition from environmental groups in her state, as well as from landowners and some counties concerned about land damage and other potential impacts.
In addition, legislation has cleared the Iowa House Judiciary Committee that would require companies to acquire at least 90% of their routes through existing or voluntary easements.
“It's been my policy not to weigh in (on) existing legislation, but I've made it very clear, there are laws on the books (and) eminent domain should be used as a last resort. Landowners should be compensated well, and we put a lot of time into putting laws on the books to make sure that we were protecting their rights and that they were fairly compensated in the process.”
At the same time, she emphasized the importance of ethanol to the state’s corn growers and economy in general. “I don't think it's right to change the rules midstream. These investments were made based on what's on the books right now,” she said.
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