The Windy City moved another step closer to cleaner air with 15% ethanol as the City Council Finance Committee passed the Chicago Clean with E15 Ordinance on Monday. The ordinance would make E15 available as an option to Chicago drivers, and now moves to the full City Council for a hearing on Wednesday.

“I look forward to the full Council vote, and to giving Chicagoans a cleaner, less expensive option,” said co-sponsor Alderman Anthony Beale.

Supporters of the bill delivered a petition with 7,673 signatures to the committee meeting on Monday. “I’m very pleased this ordinance has such strong support within the Council and across Chicago,” Beale added.

Among the organizations supporting the ordinance are the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE), Growth Energy, and the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA). “The city of Chicago has always been a leader when it comes to fuel. It was the first city in the United States to ban lead in gasoline, the first to choose ethanol over MTBE in reformulated gas, and this ordinance would make Chicago the first major city to guarantee drivers the choice of a lower cost, higher octane, clean E15 fuel,” said ACE Senior Vice President Ron Lamberty.

Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis noted that approval of the ordinance will provide choice for consumers and jobs for the state. “(T)hey have displayed their resolve to ensure that Chicago motorists and other consumers have market access to a sustainable, cleaner burning, less expensive homegrown fuel that supports 73,156 Illinois jobs and generates $4.7 billion for the state’s economy,” said Buis. “By moving to E15, Chicago can help create an additional 12,000 Illinois jobs that can’t be outsourced.”

The ordinance would require all filling stations in the city to provide dispensing pumps and offer mid-grade E15 for sale, with a phase-in period of nearly a year and an exemption for filling stations selling less than 850,000 gallons of fuel per year.