EPA Denies Ethanol Waiver Request

The EPA said it had not found evidence to support claims of severe "economic harm" that would warrant granting a waiver of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), signed into law by President Bush in 2007. The RFS mandate automatically increases the level of ethanol required in the nation's fuel supply, even though this year's corn crop could fall nearly a billion bushels short of 2011's yields due to the drought.

The Environmental Protection Agency has rejected a request from eight governors and 200 members of Congress to waive requirements for corn-based ethanol in gasoline, after the summer drought ruined much of the national corn crop.

This year, the Renewable Fuel Standard requires the use of 13.2 billion gallons of corn ethanol, up from 5 billion gallons in 2007. Ethanol production could require using more than half the country's corn crop, and next year, the standard increases to 13.9 billion gallons.

Engine-makers have protested the increase in ethanol levels due to the harm the fuel can cause, especially in smaller engines used in outdoor power equipment. Landscape contractors and small-engine users have been warned by OPEI and others not to use the latest EPA-approved blend of ethanol and gasoline, called E15, due to the damage it can cause in tools like leaf blowers and lawn mowers.