WASHINGTON, D.C. ? Today, the Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) control season begins in nearly 70 percent of the country, severely restricting the ability of retailers to sell and consumers to buy E15 fuel from June 1 to September 15.
?This issue is a classic example of a hopelessly out of date regulation negatively impacting the free market,? said Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor. ?E15 is a federally approved fuel for all cars 2001 and newer that boosts octane, saves consumers up to 10 cents per gallon at the pump, and improves the environment by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and displacing toxic additives in gasoline. Consumers have recently surpassed over 1 billion miles driven on the fuel, and it is now available at over 800 retail sites across 29 states. Drivers are demanding E15, and more retailers are offering it every day.
The bipartisan Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act (S.517/H.R.1311) was introduced by Sens. Deb Fischer (R-NE), Joe Donnelly (D-IN), and Chuck Grassley (R-IA), and Reps. Adrian Smith (R-NE) and Dave Loebsack (D-IA), in March. It adds two words to the 1990 law, extending the RVP waiver to fuel with 10 or more percent ethanol, allowing retailers across the country to offer more biofuel choices to customers year-round.
RVP is a measure of how quickly fuel evaporates, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates vapor pressure/RVP to prevent increased ozone or smog from vehicle emissions. Congress granted gasoline with 10 percent ethanol (E10) an RVP waiver; however, the same volatility waiver does not apply to any ethanol-blended fuel above E10 even though these fuels have a lower vapor pressure.
