A long-awaited draft bill aimed at expanding the U.S. ethanol market is expected to be finalized as soon as Friday, Rep. Randy Feenstra tells Agri-Pulse.
The House Legislative Counsel, which helps write new bills, is working on a measure that would allow year-round and nationwide sales of higher-ethanol blends, known as E15, said Feenstra, co-chair of the Rural Domestic Energy Council to advance E15.
Calls from biofuel producers and farmers are growing louder amid lack of legislative action on E15. A draft bill got close to advancing in the House of Representatives in January, only to have a deal fall apart at the last minute. Oil companies disagreed over a plan to slash the number of refiners eligible for exemptions from federal biofuel-blending requirements.
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"We're working with everybody to make sure we have a consensus," said Feenstra, a Republican running for governor this year in his home state of Iowa, the biggest U.S. producer of ethanol and the corn used to make it.
Feenstra said once the draft bill is released, it should be introduced once House members are back from recess the week of March 16. He didn't elaborate on details of the measure. He expects the legislation can be taken up as a stand-alone bill.
There's no current agreement on a bill framework among agriculture and energy stakeholders. The sticking point has been a split between independent refiners and larger ones represented by the American Petroleum Institute. The former says big energy firms seek to reduce small refinery exemptions, or SREs, from the Renewable Fuel Standard in a bid to consolidate the market. API says SREs distort the market and create regulatory uncertainty.
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