US EPA to allow E15 gasoline sales this summer, cites wars, OPEC+ production cuts

The US Environmental Protection Agency will allow E15 gasoline to be sold in the 2024 summer driving season, the EPA said April 19, citing the wars in the Ukraine and in the Middle East, as well as OPEC+ production cuts.

The decision to issue an emergency waiver will allow the fuel -- gasoline blended with 15% ethanol -- to continue to be available to consumers in certain parts of the US from June 1 to Sept. 15. Formally, it extends the 1-psi Reid Vapor Pressure waiver that currently applies to E10 gasoline to E15 and uses Clean Air Act authority to waive smog-related regulations around higher ethanol blends in hot weather.

The sale of E15 during the summer will protect Americans against price shocks by increasing supply and reducing reliance on imported fuel, the EPA said.

"Under President Biden's leadership, EPA is taking action to protect Americans from fuel supply challenges resulting from ongoing conflict overseas by ensuring consumers have more choices at the pump," EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement. "Allowing E15 sales during the summer driving season will increase fuel supply, while supporting American farmers, strengthening our nation's energy security, and providing relief to drivers across the country."

The EPA estimates E15 is roughly 25 cents/gal cheaper than E10.

"Earlier this year, the Biden administration finally confirmed E15 can permanently be offered in eight Midwest states, but postponed year-round access in those states until the summer of 2025," American Coalition for Ethanol CEO Brian Jennings said in a statement. "Today's action is an important reminder that higher ethanol blends play a critical part in our nation's energy security as well as contribute significant climate and air quality benefits."

Environmental concerns decrease

The EPA granted the same waiver in 2022, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in an attempt to make available as much domestic fuel as possible. The waiver was granted again on similar terms in 2023.

On April 29, 2022, when the first emergency waiver was issued, the price of Platts-assessed USGC gasoline Unl 87 had spiked from 264.10 cents/gal to 335.74 cents/gal. On June 9, 2022, it peaked at 432.62 cents/gal. Since the fall of 2022, the price has never exceeded 302.99 cents/gal, but concerns about market stability led to the granting of the 2023 waiver. Those concerns -- which now include the conflict in Gaza and broader Middle East tensions, as well as Houthi disruptions to shipping routes in the Red Sea -- were the stated reason for EPA's latest waiver, too. USGC gasoline Unl 87 was 250.62 cents/gal on April 18.

Prices and geopolitical market effects aside, EPA's letter announcing the waiver indicated it no longer sees environmental liability to E15 ethanol sales versus E10.

"Since E15, allowed under this waiver, is required to meet the same volatility standard as E10, no overall change in evaporative emissions impacts are projected to occur as a result of this action," Regan wrote. "After weighing the societal benefits of an incrementally higher volume of gasoline being made available to the public, and considering that no significant change in air pollution is projected to occur as a result of this action, the EPA concludes that this action is in the public interest."

No longer in limbo

This aligns with the agency's February action, when the EPA issued a rule carving out permanent year-round E15 availability for Midwestern states beginning in the summer of 2025, the result of a years-long procedural tussle with the governors of eight states in the region.

That 2025 start date left the 2024 summer driving season in limbo. US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, a former Iowa governor and longtime supporter of corn growers and ethanol producers, expressed confidence that an emergency waiver would be granted.

The biofuels industry, corn farmers' groups and Midwestern governors and representatives took the 2025 win but continued to push hard for an immediate 2024 emergency waiver. The American Coalition for Ethanol organized a fly-in to Washington, while the Renewable Fuels Association, one of the largest groups of biofuels producers, sent letters to Biden and his staff. On April 11, 46 lawmakers from both the US House of Representatives and the US Senate -- led by Republican Senator John Thune of South Dakota and Democratic Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois -- sent their own letters urging the administration to grant the waiver.

"With gas prices on the rise again and geopolitical conflict roiling global energy markets, we applaud President Biden and EPA Administrator Michael Regan for taking decisive action to combat potential fuel shortages and keep a lid on gas prices this summer," RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper said in a statement.

Still, biofuels groups continued to urge lawmakers to find a long-term legislative solution to E15 availability. Federal legislation, like Nebraska Senator Deb Fischer's Nationwide Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act, would "finally break the cycle of ad hoc, stop-gap emergency waivers," Cooper said. The legislation was introduced by Fischer, a Republican, in 2023 but failed to gain traction in the Senate.