House Bill To Expand RVP To E15 Introduced

Thursday, 16 April 2015 00:00

Earlier this month, Senators Chuck Grassley and Rand Paul introduced a bill that would extend the reid vapor pressure (RVP) waiver to E15. Now, a similar bill has emerged at the House courtesy of Rep. Adrian Smith of Nebraska.

Smith's bill, which includes co-sponsors Reps. Ken Buck of Colorado, Rodney Davis of Illinois and Kristi Noem, calls for expanding the existing wiaver of EPA regulations related to the RVP of motor vehicle fuel to include E15 in addition to E10.

To recap, the RVP is set by the EPA for the summer months to reduce evaporation of fuel from cars and from storage and transfer equipment. The RVP limit is 9.0 PSI during the summertime. According to the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), E10 increases the PSI by 1 but the EPA has granted a RVP waiver for E10.

The waiver, however, doesn't apply to E15 despite analysis by NREL that concludes the RVP for E15 and E10 are "indistinguishable ." As such, E15 isn't sold during the summer months. It's also important to note that the RVP for E15 would be lower if it was blended with reformulated gasoline (RFG) which has a lower RVP than conventional gasoline. But due to a lack of availability of RFG in all parts of the country, that hasn't happened.

"Ethanol provides consumers in Nebraska and across America with a competitive, clean, domestically-produced alternative. However, burdensome EPA regulations are restricting consumers’ options at the fuel pump.

"Though E10 received a waiver decades ago, the same regulatory relief has not yet been extended to E15. We must pursue an all-of-the-above energy policy, which includes ethanol and other renewable fuels, by reducing red tape and encouraging innovation in the energy marketplace," Smith said in a statement on his website.

Along with the Senate bill, this new House bill is a step in the righ direction to expanding access to E15. Moreover, considering that the summer is a high driving season, both consumers and the environment would stand to benefit if E15 was made available in summer.

As we've noted on several occasions, E15 is generally sold at 10 cents less per gallon than regular unleaded gasoline while it has been proven that E15 reduces greenhouse gas emissions by a considerable amount.

The RVP issue has long been a stumbling block for retailers interested in offering E15. After all, who wants to sell a fuel that can only be sold for part of the year? Still, with strong demand for E15, enough that retailers are willing to take the risk. The 18 retailers selling E15 in Minnesota is proof of that.

More importantly, allowing E15 to be sold all year would go a long way into breaking the so-called "Blend Wall" constructed by Big Oil.