The deadline for a congressional council to come up with a plan for E15 legislation has passed with no apparent breakthrough in ending a stalemate between large and mid-sized oil refiners.
Biofuel and corn producers are caught in the middle as their goal of making higher ethanol fuel blends, known as E15, at gas pumps year-round remains out of reach. The council was established when it became apparent that no compromise provision was ready to be included in the most recent FY 2026 funding measure.
February 15 was set as the date for an agreement to be finalized with February 25 as the targeted date for final Congressional action to be completed. Negotiators proceed with participants intending to continuing to work on the effort.
Independent refiners insist that any E15 proposal also must keep the costs of the ethanol mandate from growing. At issue are potential changes to the Renewable Fuel Standard.
“Year-round E15 without meaningful RFS reforms would put America’s remaining independent refineries at risk, threatening thousands of family-sustaining jobs, driving up higher gas prices, and weakening domestic refining capacity,” the Fueling American Jobs Coalition says.