Senator Chuck Grassley: Nationwide year-round E15 would drive Iowa economy and help ease prices at gas pumps across country
December 17, 2023 - BUTLER COUNTY, IOWA – Last week, Senator Chuck Grassley released the following:
As the Biden administration sits on a Midwest-backed request spearheaded by Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds to allow the year-round sale of E15, U.S. Sens. 
Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) are demanding the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) finalize the necessary waiver quickly, affording retailers time to prepare for summer 2024 sales. Grassley and Ernst are leading the bicameral, bipartisan push alongside U.S. Rep. Brad Finstad (R-Minn.).
“We write today…concerning the swift implementation of outstanding regulatory action to remove the 1-psi volatility waiver for gasoline-ethanol blends in Midwest states…this rulemaking should have been completed in July 2022, and unfortunately, we still have no regulatory certainty for our fuel retailers, fuel blenders, or biofuel producers more than 16 months later,” the lawmakers wrote.
“Homegrown, American-produced ethanol strengthens our national security and ensures lower vehicle emissions to achieve the Administration’s climate goals. As we approach the 2024 summer driving season, it is critical that the Biden administration work swiftly to finalize the Governors’ requests, bringing much-needed certainty to our corn growers, fuel retailers, and consumers to enjoy the clean-burning, lower cost benefits of year-round E15,” they concluded.
Grassley is a strong and vocal advocate for biofuel production and expanding E15 infrastructure. He is working to advance legislation to authorize the year-round, nationwide sale of ethanol blends higher than 10 percent, and has pushed administrations of both political parties to uphold the Renewable Fuel Standard.
Read the lawmakers’ letter to OMB HERE.
Grassley and Ernst are joined in the U.S. Senate by Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.). In addition to Finstad, 14 members of the U.S. House of Representatives co-signed the letter, including U.S. Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa), Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) and Randy Feenstra (R-Iowa).
Source: Senator Chuck Grassley
