The Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America (SIGMA) has officially joined the Coalition for E85 in the effort to have 85 percent ethanol designated as an alternative fuel under the tax code.

The recently-launched coalition is made up primarily of fuel retailers who are concerned about the future of E85 once the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) expires without renewal at the end of the year. “E85 as an alternative fuel is defined everywhere in the U.S. code, except for the Internal Revenue code,” explains tax code specialist Jeff Trinca, who is working with the coalition. That was because of the VEETC, to avoid “double dipping” in tax credits. “Now VEETC’s going away and what we’re basically saying is we would like E85 to be included in the definition of alternative fuels with propane, natural gas and others so there’s a level playing field,” Trinca says, noting that the coalition is only looking for a five year bridge to get the infrastructure in to be competitive with gasoline.

Trinca says they are working on getting a bill introduced in Congress to address the issue before the end of the year.

Trinca and coalition representative Phil Lampert, both pictured here, were at the National Association of Farm Broadcasting annual meeting last week explaining the issue to the nation’s farm broadcasters. Listen to my interview with Trinca here: Jeff Trinca, Coalition for E85