E-15 Ethanol Ruling Upheld Over Industry Protests

The OPEI is reconsidering a mis-fueling rule challenge to EPA's small E15 indicator label, since an appeals court threw out a lawsuit challenging the approval of the ethanol-rich fuel blend. EPA also denied a petition to keep an E10 legacy fuel for the marketplace.

A federal court has upheld an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ruling that permits the sale of a fuel blend with higher ethanol content, despite warnings and protests from industry groups.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia threw out a lawsuit challenging the EPA's decision to put E15, a fuel made up of 15 percent corn ethanol, on the market. Before last June, widely available ethanol blends maxed out at 10 percent.

While the new fuel blend is safe for cars made in 2001 or later, according to the EPA, many industry groups disagree with the ruling and claim E15 will damage engines and void warranties, especially in smaller and older equipment. The American Automobile Association (AAA), the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI) and the Coast Guard have all issued warnings against E15, and were disappointed in the ruling.

"EPA has acknowledged there will be mis-fueling with E15; there will be engine and product failure," said Kris Kiser, OPEI President. OPEI was a sponsor of the lawsuit, which the court said lacked standing to challenge EPA's ruling. "It is regrettable that the court is insisting to see personal or economic injury before they can take action ...???(R)???AE'?N????e'?N,A+our interest is to protect the consumer. We're trying to prevent harm from happening in the first place."

Making E15 more widely available would help the biofuels industry meet rising blending targets established by the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) in 2007, which requires refiners to blend 36 billion gallons of biofuels into traditional transportation fuels by 2022. E15 is currently sold at only a handful of gas stations across the country.

"This is a major victory for the renewable fuels industry, and opens the door for further investment in new fueling technology to offer E15 to consumers," Tom Buis, chief executive with biofuels trade group Growth Energy, said in a statement.