The biofuels industry welcomed Senate approval last week of Scott Pruitt to be the next administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
“As Mr. Pruitt said during his confirmation hearing last month, ‘To honor the intent and the expression of the Renewable Fuel Standard statute is very, very important.’ We could not agree more,” said Renewable Fuels Association president Bob Dinneen. “While the RFS remains our priority, we will also continue advocating for the removal of unnecessary volatility restrictions that have discouraged market acceptance of higher level ethanol blends like E15.”
“We look forward to working with Mr. Pruitt and the EPA as they continue to carry out the Renewable Fuel Standard as enacted by a bi-partisan Congress,” said National Biodiesel Board Vice President of Federal Affairs Anne Steckel. “The RFS is working as intended to deliver jobs and American made energy, a major point of emphasis of the Trump Administration. American-made biodiesel continues to be the fastest growing advanced biofuel in the country and a large portion of that success can be attributed to the success of the RFS.”
“We congratulate Mr. Pruitt on his confirmation and are eager to work with him to help EPA keep the promises that President Trump made about ethanol during the campaign,” said American Coalition for Ethanol Executive Vice President Brian Jennings. “It is imperative that Administrator Pruitt work to help ensure the successful implementation of the Renewable Fuel Standard to drive the use of higher ethanol blends, to maintain the RFS point-of-obligation with refiners and importers, and to lift unnecessary restrictions on ethanol use such as the Reid vapor pressure limit.”
Immediately after his approval, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) and four other senators sent a letter to Pruitt asking him to address EPA’s volatility regulation that makes it more difficult to sell ethanol blends above 10% year round. The senators asked the administrator to extend the 1-psi RVP waiver to E15 and other higher ethanol blends, “to eliminate this needless obstacle to consumer choice.”