The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued an emergency waiver to allow a higher-grade of ethanol fuel be sold over the summer, a major win for the Midwestern corn industry.
The EPA granted similar emergency waivers last year, allowing the sale of 15% ethanol blends known as E15, in a bid to keep spiking gas prices down following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Politico reported. Midwestern lawmakers and ethanol advocates had sharply criticized a proposed EPA rule in early March — which would have permanently allowed the sale of E15 in eight Midwestern states beginning in 2024 — for being too slow and caving to oil interests.