Download PDF
March 3, 2017

Senators Send Letter To Pruitt On Volatility Regulations

Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D.
On February 17, 2017, several Republican Senators sent a letter to Scott Pruitt, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator, to confirm their willingness to work with Pruitt to grow the nation’s economy and support American jobs and to request that Pruitt address EPA’s volatility regulation of ethanol fuel blends.  In the letter, the Senators describe the one pound per square inch (psi) waiver that allows gasoline blends containing ten percent ethanol (E10) to be sold during the summer months despite the gasoline volatility requirements in place from June 1 to September 15 under the Clean Air Act (CAA).  The letter requests that Pruitt extend the one psi waiver to higher ethanol blends since the volatility of such blends is lower than E10.  The Senators state that without a waiver, fuels, such as E15, are prohibited from use during the summer months, which discourages retailers from installing infrastructure to distribute fuel alternatives and increases costs for consumers.