Republican lawmakers face a deadline to reach agreement on year-round E15 authorization this week so the deal can potentially be attached to a legislative vehicle that has a chance of reaching President Donald Trump’s desk.

House leadership last month declined to attach an E15 provision to a must-pass spending bill and instead created a council of GOP lawmakers to craft a compromise. The council has until next Sunday to submit a legislative proposal, with the goal of considering the bill by Feb. 25. Both the House and Senate are scheduled to be out of session the week of Feb. 16.

Republicans and Democrats also are poised this week for a new round of debate over the Trump administration’s deportation tactics, a flashpoint in efforts to fund the Department of Homeland Security for the rest of the fiscal year. DHS is set to run out of money if a new budget measure isn’t passed and signed into law by Friday.  

The immigration policy talks threaten to delay efforts to pass a bill that would allow year-round sales of higher ethanol fuel blends, known as E-15. The bipartisan push to expand availability of corn-based ethanol has been a top goal of the ag industry for more than a decade, and met with repeated failures and last-minute disappointments.

“For the life of me I don’t understand why E-15 year round isn’t already a reality,” Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., told Agri-Pulse last week. 

Johnson is among members of the E-15 Rural Domestic Energy Council, formed late last month after an E-15-passage plan was derailed amid an outcry from smaller refiners. They objected to a provision to cut the number of small refiners eligible for exemption from U.S. biofuel-blending rules under the Renewable Fuel Standard. 

The American Petroleum Institute, which represents large refiners, supports the proposal, backs the push to overhaul RFS exemptions, arguing that the current process distorts the market and creates uncertainty. 

The oil-industry rift has crop-based biofuels caught in the middle with the clock ticking.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, meanwhile, is in her home state of Texas this week to highlight the Trump administration’s efforts to prevent an outbreak of New World screwworm.

USDA recently decided to expand the dispersal of sterile flies from Mexico into southern Texas. 

On Monday, Rollins takes part in a roundtable with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on the recently announced U.S.-Mexico water agreement, and they will attend the opening of a USDA Animal Plant Health Inspection Service facility for dispersal of sterile flies.

The sterile flies will carry a fluorescent dye that will enable animal health officials to distinguish them from flies that would be a threat.

Here is a list of agriculture or rural-related events scheduled for this week in Washington and elsewhere (all times EST):

Monday, Feb. 9

1 p.m. – Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins holds a roundtable discussion on the recently announced U.S.-Mexico water agreement, Mission, Texas.

2:15 p.m. – Rollins attends the opening of USDA sterile fly dispersal facility, part of the administration’s plan to protect U.S. livestock. Edinburg, Texas

Tuesday, Feb. 10

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World Ag Expo, through Thursday, Tulare, California. 

The National Council of Farmer Cooperatives annual meeting, through Thursday. San Antonio. 

The National Council of Agriculture Employers annual meeting through Thursday, Washington. 

9:30 a.m. – Senate Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on broadband deployment at the Commerce Department, 138 Dirksen.

11 a.m. – The Agricultural Coalition for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement releases a study on the impact of USMCA

Noon – USDA issues monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates.

2 p.m. – USDA releases Fruit and Tree Nuts Yearbook 

Wednesday, Feb. 11

The National Farm Machinery Show, through Saturday, Louisville, Kentucky.

2 p.m. – USDA releases wheat data 

3 p.m. – USDA releases Broiler Hatchery report.

Thursday, Feb. 12

8:30 a.m. – USDA releases Weekly Export Sales report 

10 a.m. – Senate Finance Committee hearing, “The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement: Evaluating North American Competitiveness,” 215 Dirksen 

Friday, Feb. 13

For more news, go to Agri-Pulse.com.