USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz have expressed confidence that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will issue an emergency waiver to allow E15 to remain available this summer.
Vilsack discussed the USDA鈥檚 ongoing efforts with regard to sustainable aviation fuel during a Feb. 28 congressional hearing, and Walz spoke with Agweek on March 1.
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Vilsack spoke on the likelihood of an emergency waiver by the EPA before the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry,
The ag secretary said he is "confident" that the EPA will issue an emergency waiver allowing E15 sales to continue nationwide this summer, and that he expects that waiver to be released in April.
鈥淚 am pretty sure they will have the resources and the data necessary to make the decision and have the decision stick,鈥� Vilsack said of the emergency waiver.
Emergency waivers for E15 sales were implemented by the EPA for the 2022 and 2023 summer seasons.
When questioned by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, on USDA's advocacy for sustainable aviation fuels, Vilsack said the USDA has two priorities.
The first is to advocate for a tax credit that allows for a broad range of feedstocks, including traditional feedstocks that are used to make biofuels, to qualify for the tax credits and incentives through the Inflation Reduction Act.
The second priority, Vilsack said, is for USDA to provide the logistics behind the availability of the feedstock and for the supply chain, and how to accelerate the adoption and commercialization of sustainable aviation fuel.
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鈥淧art of my responsibility is to articulate the need, the science behind that,鈥� Vilsack said.
He said the agency has been "successful" in getting the GREET (Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions and Energy Use in Technologies) model incopororated in that process, but USDA won't release that updated model for a few weeks.
During the Feb. 28 hearing, Vilsack said the U.S. set a goal to produce 36 billion gallons of sustainable aviation fuel.
鈥淲e have to accelerate dramatically the commercialization and availability,鈥� Vilsack said of SAF. 鈥淲e have to figure out the tools we can use at USDA, our loan programs and so forth, to try to accelerate that.鈥�
Nearly two years ago, several Midwestern governors filed petitions with the EPA requesting that the agency remove the 1-psi Reid vapor pressure waiver for summer gasoline-ethanol blended fuels, which would effectively allow E15 to be sold year-round within their states.
On Feb. 22, the EPA issued its in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin beginning in 2025. The rule was met with a mix of approval and disappointment by the ethanol industry, upset by the delay in implementation.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz called the EPA rule a "win" but said there was more work to be done. He said he was disappointed by the delay to 2025 and would push for the White House to release an emergency waiver for the summer.
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"It's just smart," he said of the EPA approving a 2024 waiver. "We're part of the solution, and our advanced biofuels are a key piece of markets and tackling the environmental challenges."
The governor said Minnesota is a leader in E15, and the U.S. has the potential to be a leader in sustainable aviation fuel.
"It's our ethanol industry that has made us global leading on sustainable aviation fuel 鈥� the next leap as we go forward," Walz said. "So the sooner we can get that in permanently, I think the better for consumers, better for producers, better for a move towards more sustainable fuels."
The EPA is required by statute to respond to petitions for an emergency waiver within 90 days, but it took the agency two years to release an action on the Midwest E15 requests.
"I do think they'll issue some of these waivers, and I think the states like us here, who have led on this, and have the capacity to do it, and are ready to go 鈥� we'll certainly be advocating for it," Walz said. "The emergency waivers are a fix in the meantime, but I wish they would have just done this for 2024."
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