SIOUX FALLS, SD – Today, U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn) and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) reintroduced The Renewable Fuel Infrastructure Investment and Market Expansion Act, bipartisan legislation to create a renewable fuel infrastructure grant program at the United States Department of Agriculture and streamline regulatory requirements to help fuel retailers sell higher blends of ethanol.
Specifically, the legislation would authorize $500 million over five years for USDA biofuel infrastructure grants and direct the Environmental Protection Agency to finalize a proposed rule to repeal E15 labeling requirements. The bill would also direct EPA to finalize provisions from the same proposed rule to allow certain existing Underground Storage Tanks to store higher blends of ethanol.
American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) CEO Brian Jennings issued the following statement of support:
“Senators Klobuchar and Ernst are demonstrating the kind of bipartisan leadership necessary to ensure biofuels play a leading role in helping the U.S. achieve net-zero emissions by midcentury. While electric vehicles (EVs) are getting a lot of attention lately, experts conclude EVs alone will fail to reach President Biden’s goal of net-zero emissions in the U.S. by 2050, and that increased use of biofuels will be required to help address the emissions gap. A recent study by Harvard validates what ACE has been saying for years; today’s corn ethanol is nearly 50 percent cleaner than gasoline. This vital legislation would ensure infrastructure parity for biofuels and EVs and help ethanol continue to be part of the solution to climate change.”
