EPA pushes back ethanol decision

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is holding off on deciding whether to raise allowable ethanol content in gasoline until mid-2010.

The announcement came on Tuesday, Dec. 1 -- the original deadline set by the Clean Air Act for the EPA to decide whether to allow up to 15 percent ethanol in gasoline, a 5-percent increase on the current limit.

"The agency will decide whether to raise the blending limit when more testing data is available," stated an EPA news release Tuesday.

Dave Hoffman, CEO of Plymouth Energy ethanol plant in Merrill, said he's disappointed the decision won't be made until next year.

"However, I think we're going to get there -- I think the trend is going toward higher allowable blends," he said. "Going to E15 would allow us to reduce how much foreign oil we import by about one million barrels a day."

Right now, he added, the United States imports about 12 million barrels daily.

The push started when Growth Energy, a biofuel industry association, asked the EPA for the waiver to allow E15 fuel in March 2009. According to the Clean Air Act, the EPA had 270 days to respond.

But Nov. 30, the EPA sent a letter to Growth Energy stating that not all test results are complete.

Testing data on two vehicles proved positive, indicated engines in cars model year 2001 and newer can likely handle a higher ethanol blend than 10 percent, according to a news release from the EPA.

"However, we continue to evaluate the question of component durability when E15 is used over many thousands of miles," wrote Gina McCarthy, of the EPA, in the letter to Growth Energy. "There is an ongoing study being conducted by DOE (the U.S. Department of Energy) that will provide critical data on this issue."

Total testing involves 19 vehicles and is expected to be completed August 2010.

Testing on 12 of those vehicles should be finished by May, McCarthy stated.

"Should the test results remain supportive and provide the necessary basis, we would be in a position to approve E15 for 2001 and newer vehicles in the mid-year time frame," McCarthy said.

However, if problems are encountered, the EPA may wait until after August 2010 to make the call.

In the meantime, the EPA is moving forward to create fuel pump labeling requirements for fuel distributors to be ready if E15 is approved.

"It was encouraging to hear they're starting the labeling process to make sure all pumps are labeled correctly," Hoffman said. "Right now there's a lot of different labeling state-by-state and they want to make it more standardized."

The EPA is working toward a renewable fuel mandate of 36 billion gallons by 2022.

"To achieve renewable fuel requirements in future years, it is clear that ethanol will need to be blended into gasoline at levels greater than the current limit of 10 percent," McCarthy wrote.