BISMARCK – Typically E15 fuel cannot be sold during the summer months due to Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) requirements under the Clean Air Act (CAA). U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) has long supported the year-round, nationwide sale of E15 to allow consumers and producers regulatory consistency and choice. In 2022 and 2023, Senator Cramer joined a number of his colleagues to call on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to permit the year-round sale given energy supply disruptions caused by Russia’s further escalation of war against Ukraine. For the last two years, the EPA has enabled the continued sale of E15 fuel through nationwide temporary waivers.

Yesterday, U.S. Senator Cramer joined U.S. Senators John Thune (R-SD) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) in sending a letter to President Joe Biden, requesting he permit the sale of E15 fuel during the 2024 summer driving season by extending the RVP waiver nationwide from June 1 through September 15. 

The letter explains, “Permitting the sale of higher blends of biofuels like E15 through the summer driving season bolsters the domestic fuel supply, lowers consumer costs, and promotes the environmental benefits of American biofuels and modern agriculture.”

The senators emphasize the necessity of pursuing an all-the-above energy strategy, including leveraging domestic biofuels. By extending the nationwide sale of E15, the letter notes this could add billions of gallons of ethanol to the fuel supply at a time domestic inventories of crude oil and petroleum products are at their lowest point since May 2004. Additionally, it would amplify the robust market for U.S. exports of oil and petroleum products.   

Additional cosigners include U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Josh Hawley (R-MO), John Hoeven (R-ND), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Gary Peters (D-MI), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Tina Smith (D-MN), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), and J.D. Vance (R-OH).

Click here for the letter.