Congress Introduces Bills to Allow Year-round E15 Sales

North Dakota U.S. Senator John Hoeven Tuesday helped introduce the Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act of 2023, legislation sponsored by Senators Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) to allow the year-round sale of ethanol blends higher than 10 percent. The bill, which Hoeven has cosponsored since the 115th Congress, would:

- Make permanent the Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) waiver extension to allow year-round sale of E15.

- Help prevent a patchwork of state-level regulations and provide certainty to ethanol producers in North Dakota and across the country.

In addition to Hoeven, Fischer and Klobuchar, the legislation is cosponsored by Senators John Thune (R-S.D.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa).

A companion to the bill was introduced in the House of Representatives by Reps. Adrian Smith (R-Neb.), Angie Craig (D-Minn.) and Dusty Johnson (R-SD).

The Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act would extend the Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) volatility waiver to ethanol blends above ten percent to allow for the year-round, nationwide sale of E-15. In addition, it would ensure consistency and limit disruptions across the national fuel supply chain by prohibiting the removal of the 1-psi waiver for E-10 ethanol. The legislation is supported by numerous stakeholder groups, including Growth Energy and the Renewable Fuels Association.

In the House, the Act is cosponsored by Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Dan Kildee (D-MI), Sam Graves (R-MO), Mike Flood (R-NE), Don Bacon (R-NE), Jake LaTurner (R-KS), Mike Bost (R-IL), Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO), Randy Feenstra (R-IA), Andre Carson (D-IN), Michelle Fischbach (R-MN), Ashley Hinson (R-IA), Darin LaHood (R-IL), and Zach Nunn (R-IA)