The push for E15 continues to be legislative battle
The Environmental Protection Agency announced a temporary waiver to allow summertime sales of higher ethanol-gasoline blends in 2026, as the Trump administration seeks to bolster energy security and curb rising fuel costs amid war in the Middle East.
But turning that decision into something more permanent has remained an uphill battle in Congress.
“This emergency action will provide American families with relief by increasing fuel supply and consumer choice,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a statement. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the move also will “directly lower prices at the pump and gives a clear demand signal to our domestic biofuels producers.”
This is the fifth straight year of E15 waivers. The Trump administration allowed summertime sales last year, after the Biden administration granted them from 2022 to 2024.
The agency is waiving federal law that does not permit sales of gasoline mixed with 15% ethanol (E15) from June 1 to Sept. 15, due to initial concerns about Reid vapor pressure, or how easily fuel evaporates in warm temperatures.
However, that concern is now widely viewed as outdated, though the restriction remains after a federal appeals court in 2021 said only Congress can change the law to allow year-round E15. The ruling overturned a year-round E15 executive order by President Donald Trump during his first term. Bipartisan efforts to pass an E15 bill so far have failed.
“While today’s announcement is great news for farmers, year-round E15 is essential for the farm economy, and Congress needs to find a common-sense solution that provides much needed certainty to consumers and farmers,” Rollins added.
Nearly all motor gasoline currently sold in the U.S. is blended with 10% ethanol, which serves as an oxygenate and high-octane booster. For years, producers of the corn-based biofuel and farmers have been pushing for Congress to pass E15. A bill got close in January, but disagreement among oil refiners over proposed Renewable Fuel Standard changes scuttled the legislation.
Trump weighs in
Starting early this year, Trump called on congressional leaders to find a way to get E15 passed and tasked Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-SD, and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-LA, to get the job done. But GOP lawmakers are still scrambling, and rural Democrats are making sure they feel the pressure as they head into the midterm elections.
“The U.S. ethanol industry currently has the capacity to produce 18.5 billion gallons per year, enough to replace the volume of crude oil that originates in the Middle East and traverses the Strait of Hormuz nearly fivefold,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-MN, wrote to Trump. “Ethanol can quickly and economically fill the market void created by shipping disruptions in the Middle East.”
So it is no surprise both Republicans and Democrats are spending time on this topic.
Republican Rep. Dusty Johnson, South Dakota, and Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin, Michigan, both stressed the need for year-round availability of higher ethanol fuel blends, known as E15, while in the Corn Belt during the two-week congressional break.
Johnson held an employee town hall at ethanol giant POET in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to discuss E15 prospects. Slotkin, along with Democratic Rep. Greg Landsman, whose district includes Cincinnati, met with farmers in southwest Ohio.
“If we are going to do this, this is going to be the year,” Slotkin said of E15. “I need my fellow folks in the House to actually put up a vote, move this thing forward.”
Feenstra working on new framework
In early March, Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-IA, co-chair of the House council tasked with crafting an E15 bill framework, said legislation should be unveiled shortly and that it likely can be considered as a stand-alone bill. Agriculture and energy interests are eager for an update.
Feenstra is among lawmakers under increased pressure to deliver on E15. The Republican lawmaker’s race for Iowa governor was moved last week from a “lean Republican” rating to “toss up” by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.
Democratic contender and state auditor Rob Sand has $13.2 million in cash on hand compared to Feenstra’s $3.2 million, according to Cook.
Iowa’s Democratic Party has been blasting Feenstra over allegedly “getting nothing done on E15.”
In South Dakota, Johnson is in a tight race in his bid to unseat South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden, a fellow Republican.
Slotkin is not up for Senate re-election until 2030, though the former CIA analyst who served three tours in Iraq has been visiting potential presidential battlegrounds such as Iowa, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
Editor’s note: Sara Wyant is publisher of Agri-Pulse Communications Inc., www.Agri-Pulse.com.
