Urban Air Initiative and National Farmers Union lead court appeal over EPA limits to higher ethanol blending

In Washington, in a joint petition filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals, a broad alliance of ethanol, agriculture, and clean fuel organizations requested judicial review of a recent U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rulemaking that would limit ethanol blending and restrict the use of blender pumps. The Urban Air Initiative (UAI) and National Farmers Union (NFU) are leading the alliance.

Earlier this summer, the EPA approved a rule that allows the year-round sales of gasoline blends containing 15% ethanol. While the petitioners believe this is a successful step forward, they point out that the rule also included new limitations on higher ethanol blends. Specifically, the petitioners will argue that EPA misinterprets the “substantially similar” provision of the Clean Air Act to artificially limit ethanol blending. Because ethanol is a fuel additive used in EPA’s vehicle certification process, petitioners maintain that it is not subject to any volume limitations under the sub-sim law.