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RFA praises House introduction of Nationwide Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act

A leader with the Renewable Fuels Association says the current Congress need to quickly prioritize passing a federal solution that would establish permanent year-round sales of E15.

Troy Bredenkamp, senior vice president of government and public affairs, says the Nationwide Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act would bring stability to the marketplace.

“If those retailers knew that they could sell E15 year-round without having to rely on Presidential emergency waivers, we feel the adoption rate of E15 would be very high. You would see a lot of our retail friends move their E10 pumps to an E15 pump.”

A bipartisan group of lawmakers recently introduced the legislation in the U.S. House, and it would extend the Reid vapor pressure (RVP) volatility waiver to enable the year-round, nationwide sale of ethanol blends up to 15 percent. The legislation is the House companion to a similar measure in the Senate that was introduced by Deb Fischer of Nebraska.

Bredenkamp tells Brownfield the bill would supersede a regulation allowing eight Midwest states to offer year-round E15 starting in 2025. He says that regional approach would no longer be necessary.

“When you’re adding almost 50% additional ethanol into a tank of gas that we have today, that’s going to be a significant growth in not only corn grind but even in the ethanol that would be required to meet that new demand.”

He says the legislation has been supported by ethanol producers, fuel retailers, equipment manufacturers, and some oil refiners.

INTERVIEW: RFA’s Troy Bredenkamp on year-round E15 legislation