Senators are working on a new bill that would allow year-round sales of higher blends of ethanol motor fuel, or E15, Senate Majority Leader John Thune says.
“We are trying to get an E15 bill and what it looks exactly like is in the process of being determined,” Thune told Agri-Pulse Monday.
The South Dakota Republican said meetings on the issue are underway.
Separately, Senate Agriculture Chairman John Boozman, R-Ark., said he doesn’t expect an E15 provision to be included in proposed farm bill legislation from his committee.
“E15 is really not under our jurisdiction,” Boozman said, referring to the Senate Environment Committee’s oversight of the issue.
Another problem is that the U.S. House of Representatives recently had a tough time trying to combine E15 with farm legislation, Boozman said.
The House narrowly passed a stand-alone E15 measure last month, 218-203. The measure would revamp parts of the federal Renewable Fuel Standard. Specifically, it would shrink the number of biofuel-blending exemptions for small oil refiners.
Along with pushback from independent refiners and lawmakers from heavy oil states, the American Soybean Association also opposes the House bill on the grounds that the change to the RFS would hurt soy demand, putting the trade group at odds with the National Corn Growers Association.
Senators from Midwestern farm states are now trying to find a way forward on the ethanol legislation, with some stakeholders arguing that “clean” E15 legislation, without the RFS provision, is the best path. That approach, though, raises the question of whether such a bill would lose support from the American Petroleum Institute, which backs the changes to the RFS on the grounds that the current process for small refinery exemptions (SREs) lacks transparency and distorts the market.
The SRE issue has caused a major rift within the oil industry. Groups representing independent refiners say API, which is made up of large refinery members, is trying to consolidate the market and drive smaller energy companies out of business.
Year-round E15 has long been sought by corn farmers and ethanol producers to expand U.S. consumption of the biofuel. Most gasoline sold in the U.S. includes about 10% ethanol as an octane booster and requirement under the RFS. Allowing blends of 15% would potentially add an additional 2.4 billion bushels of U.S. corn a year while reducing gasoline prices by as much as 30 cents a gallon, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.
As for a Senate Ag Committee farm bill, Boozman on Monday said he expects to release legislative draft text in the next couple weeks and hold a markup in the work period between July 13 and Aug. 7.
For more news, go to Agri-Pulse.com.
.webp?t=1762183428)
