The EPA will not make a major change to federal rules for where most ethanol is to be blended into gasoline.
The oil industry had been pushing the Trump Administration to lift the “obligation” that refineries blend ethanol into gasoline. The responsibility would then shift to fuel distributors.
Under current rules, U.S. refineries must blend a portion of corn-based ethanol into gasoline. Refineries that do not have that capacity are forced to buy credits from refiners that do blend ethanol into gasoline. The EPA announced today it will not change those rules.
Iowa politicians like Senators Grassley and Ernst as well as Governor Reynolds praised the president for keeping his campaign pledge to protect the ethanol industry. Critics say if the oil industry had gotten its way, markets for corn, ethanol and gasoline would have been disrupted and ethanol production would have decreased.