Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig is urging the U.S. Senate to advance legislation that would over-rule longstanding EPA guidelines and let E-15 be sold nationwide all year long.
The year-round E-15 policy was removed from the Farm Bill before it passed then House this spring, but in May, the House passed a stand-alone bill on the topic.
The bill has stalled in the Senate, though and the Republican chairman of the Senate Ag Committee has proposed a Farm Bill that does NOT include year-round E-15.
E-15 supporters are weighing whether accepting concessions on some refinery exemptions could be the key to getting year-round E-15 into the spending package congressional leaders are developing. The House already added policies, like a photo I-D requirement for voting to the legislation. EPA air quality regulations prohibit E-15 from being sold from June 1st through September 15th due to smog concerns — but the EPA has waived that rule this summer.
