House passes Lower Food and Fuels Cost Act which supports year-round E-15 and biofuel

In Washington, D.C., Agwired reports that the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Lower Food and Fuels Cost Act (H.R. 7606) and RFA, ACE and other biofuel organizations are commending Democratic leadership on the bill which includes Year-Round Fuel Choice Act to expand voluntary sales of E-15 gasoline and a bill to expand biofuel infrastructure funding.

The bill was opposed by the majority of House Republicans. The final vote was 221-204, with seven Republicans siding with the majority and five Democrats voting against the bill.

The act includes a package of ag-related legislation, including the Meat and Poultry Special Investigator Act and the Butcher Block Act, focused on meat packing and cattle marketing; the PRECISE Act, aimed at access to precision agriculture technology, legislation to support specialty and row crop farmers facing skyrocketing fertilizer prices, and the Strengthening the Agriculture and Food Supply Chain Act. In addition, it includes the Year-Round Fuel Choice Act to expand voluntary sales of E-15 gasoline and a bill to expand biofuel infrastructure funding.

Specifically, RFA applauded the bill’s permanent removal of barriers to selling lower-cost, lower-carbon ethanol blends like E15 all year long, as well as additional infrastructure funding that will support the expansion of low-carbon liquid fuels.

The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) applauded the efforts to advance legislation that would permanently extend Reid vapor pressure (RVP) limit relief to blends of gasoline containing “more than” 10 percent ethanol, which would ensure uninterrupted market access to E15 in all parts of the country.