HR 1462, a bill to reform the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) to eliminate ethanol requirements, has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives.
HR 1462 aims to reform the RFS by eliminating its corn-based ethanol requirements, reducing the requirements of cellulosic ethanol and banning E15 in the marketplace.
The Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) says the current RFS mandates that an increasing amount of ethanol or other biofuels be blended into gasoline each year -- levels that are now becoming unattainable in a free marketplace.
Congress enacted the RFS in 2005 and then dramatically expanded the volume of renewables to be blended each year, from 9 billion gallons in 2008 to 36 billion gallons by 2022.
The RFS has been the driving force behind a decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to allow the content of ethanol in gasoline to rise from 10% (E10) to 15% (E15) ethanol. E15 will then become the way refiners meet RFS mandates.
In addition, the RFS requires fuel producers to meet unattainable mandates for other types of biofuels, such as cellulosic ethanol (wood, grasses and other agricultural byproducts) that have not yet been developed.
SEMA supports other proposed legislation (HR 875 and S. 344) to halt E15 sales.
