The American Petroleum Institute said EPA rulemaking to extend the RVP waiver to E15 does nothing to help fix the broken Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), and could ultimately harm consumers and their vehicles.
“Extending this waiver is an anti-consumer policy that risks causing costly engine and fuel system damage to nearly three out of four vehicles on the road today,” said API Vice President of Downstream and Industry Operations Frank Macchiarola. “EPA has acted outside its statutory authority in granting year-round E15 and rushed through the rulemaking process in order to meet an arbitrary deadline. This premature policy attempts to push E15 into the market before it is ready.”
EPA also finalized reforms to the Renewable Identification Number (RIN) market.
“While we are encouraged that EPA limited the scope of the proposed RIN reforms, the rule does nothing to address the ethanol blendwall, which is the main structural problem with the RFS,” Maccchiarola said.
“The outdated RFS mandate was premised on the faulty assumptions of ever-increasing gasoline demand and reliance on foreign sources of oil, and the near-term commercial availability of advanced and cellulosic biofuels. History has proved these assumptions wrong, and we urge EPA to instead focus its attention on protecting consumers and fixing the RFS, which has strong bipartisan support.”
