<article><p class="lead">President Donald Trump said today his administration is "very close" to approving a waiver that would remove summertime restrictions on sales of 15pc ethanol-gasoline blends (E15) in most of the country.</p><p>Trump's remarks were his most definitive yet in support of a year-round E15 waiver that ethanol producers and corn growers say is one of their highest priorities. Issuing the waiver could bolster the president's standing among core supporters in farm states, who have bristled at the loss of export markets because of Trump's decision to launch trade disputes around the world.</p><p>"I am very close, I have to tell you, to pulling off something you have been looking forward to for many years, and that is the 12-month E15 waiver, we are getting very close to doing that," Trump said at an event in Dubuque, Iowa. </p><p>Ethanol producers and corn farmers have long wanted to remove restrictions E15 sales, which they see is an impediment to widespread adoption of higher-ethanol fuel blends. Air quality laws prohibit the sale of the fuel blend between June and September in most of the country, and it remains unclear what steps the administration might take to remove this restriction.</p><p>Trump said the year-round wavier was a "very complex process" and offered no further details on the timeline for a decision. Earlier this year he <a href="http://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/1661307">said</a> there was no guarantee the administration would issue the waiver. But his comments today were more clearly in support of the policy change.</p><p>"We are taking care of your ethanol, OK? Nobody else was going to, believe me," he said.</p><p>Oil companies have argued that any E15 waiver should be part of negotiations to overhaul implementation of the Renewable Fuel Standard, which requires refineries to ensure specific volumes of biofuels are blended into the US fuel supply. Those talks fell apart earlier this year but may resume under the new US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Andrew Wheeler.</p><p>Biofuel groups cheered the latest remarks. Growth Energy chief executive Emily Skor said she hoped Trump would "direct the EPA to act quickly" to provide a waiver that would offer ethanol producers increased access to US markets. </p></article>
