Year-Round E15 Ruling Overturned

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a 2019 rule by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) allowing for the year-round sale of 15 percent ethanol blends (E15). On June 10, 2019, EPA entered in its Final Rule regarding E15 into the Federal Register. 

The rulemaking extended the Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) waiver already in place, to include gasoline blends containing up to 15 percent ethanol by volume during the summer ozone control season. The objective of the rulemaking was to create parity in the way the RVP of both E10 and E15 is treated under EPA regulations.

Reversing the rule undermines the ability of renewable fuels to offer lower carbon options within the transportation pool.  Disallowing year-round E15 also will reduce the possibility of ethanol RINs proceeding beyond the ten percent blend wall.  Limiting blend wall penetration will work to support higher RIN prices in years there…