After months of political wrangling and legislative dead ends, a bipartisan group of lawmakers is moving ahead with a plan to get more corn-based fuel into American cars.
U.S. House members including Reps. Michelle Fischbach, R-Minn., and Nikki Budzinski, D-Ill., have submitted a proposed amendment to a farm bill that’s expected to be teed up for a floor vote early next week.
The measure would allow year-round sales of higher ethanol-gasoline blends, known as E15. The proposed amendment also would majorly overhaul how biofuel-blending law exemption requests from small refiners are handled under the Renewable Fuel Standard. The bill allows EPA to grant RFS waivers if a refinery is on the brink of economic collapse or converting to production of renewable fuel.
A trade group representing independent refiners rejected the plan on Wednesday, saying it won’t support legislation “without needed reforms to lower and prevent continuous increases in ethanol mandates.”
The opposition revives disagreement between large and small oil refiners over small refinery exemptions, or SREs. The American Petroleum Institute, which represents large, multinational energy companies, supports the current proposal, saying the existing process for granting SREs is opaque and distorts the market. Many small and mid-sized refiners counter with claims that API merely wants to drive them out of business and further consolidate the oil business.
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Yet the E15 proposal has the support of some lawmakers from oil-heavy states, including GOP Reps. Dan Crenshaw of Texas and Stephanie Bice of Oklahoma. Farm-state lawmakers and biofuel groups are cheering the move and say they are ready to move ahead.
“I think we’ve got a deal that can get the necessary votes,” Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., told Agri-Pulse, while stressing that it’s important not to get overly confident. “We want to continue to run traps and figure out what concerns members have, and we want to solve as many problems as we can.”
The spike in gasoline prices due to war in the Middle East is underscoring the need for the U.S. to be as energy-independent as possible.
“The conflict in Iran has reminded everybody how much safer it is to worry about what’s going on in a South Dakota corn field than what’s going on in an Iranian oil field when it comes to America’s energy future,” Johnson said.
Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, the vice chair of a congressional task force charged with getting E15 passage secured, said the amendment is intended for all stakeholders. “We’re hoping everybody can get on board and we think this is important and we’ve tried to address everybody’s issues,” he said.
The SRE issue has been a political thorn in the side of both Republican and Democratic administrations. Some ag-heavy states have questioned whether some refineries truly need economic relief and have asked for federal investigations.
The latest E15 measure was written to ensure that if mid-sized refiners are truly at risk of shutting down, there’s a pathway to get regulatory relief, a person familiar with the matter said.
Separately, a lawmaker who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the exemption issue and stalled E15 negotiations have reached a "boiling point" with many members of Congress and likely the White House, as well.
Even lawmakers from states with refineries are expressing concern that they are not negotiating, but delaying. "And I think that is a compelling argument for many to just say, like, let's take the vote, and if it's not there, then we come back and fix it for those guys,” the lawmaker said.
President Donald Trump has called on House and Senate leaders to deliver an E15 bill as soon as possible that addresses concerns of farmers, biofuel producers and oil refiners. The topic also is threatening to hurt farm-state Republicans and Democrats in competitive House, Senate and gubernatorial races this year.
“We’re pushing to get it done,” Rep. Tracey Mann, R-Kan., told Agri-Pulse. “Our farmers need year-round E15. A vast majority of the industry supports it and want to see it get done. Hopefully, that’s in the farm bill or any other way possible.”
Farm and fuel groups in Iowa, the biggest U.S. producer of corn and ethanol, were quick to praise the measure.
"With high gas prices pinching the American consumer, it is beyond time for Congress to quickly pass E15 legislation that will reduce fuel costs while boosting demand
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