USDA Seeks Back-Up Plan on Ethanol

As the EPA races the clock to complete a rule allowing year-round E15 sales ahead of the summer driving season, the USDA has pitched the idea of relaxing enforcement in the absence of a new rule.

Following a speech at the National Ethanol Conference in Orlando, USDA Deputy Secretary Stephen Censky said his agency had approached EPA and suggested that, if the rule isn’t completed by the June 1 deadline, EPA could use discretion in restricting E15 use.

“We really do need—and again EPA is still working hard and is very committed to getting a final rule in place and having that announced so that can be in place for the summer driving season to allow year-round sales of E15—but in the event that they aren’t, I know that’s one of the things of using enforcement discretion or announcing that the EPA is not going to be forcing folks [to stop selling E15 in several states, and] that the retailers are not in danger of having enforcement actions taken against them,” Censky said.

Source: DTN