26/04/30
US House readies E15 floor vote in May
New York, 30 April (Argus) — The US House of Representatives is planning to vote
next month on a major biofuel policy reform bill after months of delays on an
issue important for crop demand and fuel prices. The chamber will vote on a
standalone biofuel bill on 13 May, Agriculture Committee chair Glenn Thompson
(R-Pennsylvania) said on the House floor Thursday, after an earlier plan to pass
the bill and merge it with a larger farm policy package sputtered . The latest
proposal would remove summertime limits on gasoline with up to 15pc ethanol
(E15), potentially encouraging broader sales of the typically-cheaper blend. It
would also standardize the often-unpredictable process by which some oil
refiners can win exemptions from a separate program that requires annual biofuel
blending. The plan for a House vote is just the latest turn for E15 legislation,
which has struggled to pass Congress for years now despite strong backing from
farm-state lawmakers of both parties and a recent push from President Donald
Trump. A council of Republican lawmakers had hoped to have biofuel legislation
ready for a House floor vote in February, but a bloc of refiners has resisted.
The latest proposal, while offering small companies automatic partial exemptions
from biofuel quotas, would cut off some larger enterprises that today can win
relief for smaller units they own. Under current rules, refineries that process
75,000 b/d or less of crude can request hardship exemptions — but under the
proposal, only companies with no more than 75,000 b/d of collective gasoline and
diesel refining capacity could win relief. There is a limited carveout in the
proposal for some facilities that can prove they are at risk of closing and a
system to compensate some unnamed small refinery owners for past compliance by
giving them special program credits that do not expire. The framework is backed
by not just farm advocates but also oil majors, who have been frustrated footing
the bill for blending biofuels while some of their smaller competitors skirt the
requirements. Some independent refiners remain hotly opposed, including those
that would lose their ability to win exemptions and others that want deeper
reforms to the biofuel mandate to temper costs. The cost to comply with the
program has spiked to all-time highs, according to Argus calculations based on
current credit pricing, after the Trump administration last month set blend
mandates at record-high levels. It is unclear whether lawmakers will consider
new changes to the existing E15 proposal — especially after oil and farm groups
alike reacted coolly to the House task force's prior ideas — or if the planned
vote will be punted yet again. Some Democrats have endorsed the latest deal,
seeing it as a way to help out corn farmers and temper pump prices that are
soaring because of war in the Middle East, and criticized Republicans for their
infighting. "Forgive my skepticism, but this certainly looks like every time we
have a deal for a vote on year-round E15, there is an uprising in the Republican
caucus," said House Agriculture Committee ranking member Angie Craig
(D-Minnesota). There are also significant obstacles to any biofuel proposal in
the US Senate. Agriculture Committee chair John Boozman (R-Arkansas), who has
major power over the Farm Bill that biofuel advocates hope an E15 bill could be
added to, has opposed efforts to restrict mandate exemptions that have benefited
a refinery in his state. While the legislation would allow but not mandate
year-round sales of E15, some longtime critics of biofuels in the chamber see
the proposal as a stepping stone to steeper blend requirements. "Time to end
ethanol tyranny," senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) said. E15 is not sold at the vast
majority of retail fuel stations in the US, which ethanol advocates blame on
regulatory uncertainty deterring retailers from investing in higher-blend
infrastructure. The Trump administration last month issued emergency waivers
allowing continued E15 sales this summer, but permanent access requires
legislation. By Cole Martin Send comments and request more information at
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