Andrew Wheeler will be nominated to head the Environmental Protection Agency, President Donald Trump said before a White House ceremony where he awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to seven Americans.

Supporters of EPA’s upcoming proposal to allow year-round use of gasoline blended with 15 percent ethanol made their case on a call with reporters today, saying that the blend is safe, dependable, and cuts down on smog-forming tailpipe emissions.

President Donald Trump is set to call on the Environmental Protection Agency to begin rulemaking that would allow for summer E15 sales, a move that will engender support from the biofuels sector but also face a likely challenge in the courts.

Corn growers and ethanol producers have their fingers crossed as President Donald Trump goes to Iowa on Tuesday amid expectations that the EPA could announce a long-awaited decision to allow year-around use of E15.

Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue’s decision to answer a phone call from a number marked “Unknown” may lead to movement on the administration’s stalled efforts to allow year-round sales of E15.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, says the Environmental Protection Agency is no longer considering a controversial provision that would have made exported ethanol and biodiesel eligible for the credits used to measure compliance with the federal blending mandate.

EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler’s Wednesday appearance before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee was heavy on biofuel talk as senators looked to pin him down on how the agency will approach a number of contentious topics.