Boating Industry

February 2014

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[ Regulatory update: E-15 ] Legislation pending There have been a number of bills introduced to address the renewable fuel standard and ethanol issues. Most recently, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., in December introduced the Corn Ethanol Mandate Elimination Act of 2013. The bill has eight other cosponsors, both Democrats and Republicans. The act would eliminate the corn ethanol mandate, but leave intact requirements for other biofuels, such as the isobutanol blends the marine industry has been researching (see more in the July 2013 Boating Industry). "The time to end the corn ethanol mandate has arrived," Sen. Coburn said in a statement after the bill's introduction. "This misguided policy has cost taxpayers billions of dollars, increased fuel prices and made our food more expensive. Eliminating this mandate will let market forces, rather than political and parochial forces, determine how to diversify fuel supplies in an ever-changing marketplace." More than 40 percent of the U.S. corn crop is now used to produce ethanol, which has been blamed for increasing food and feed prices. www.BoatingIndustry.com P18x19-BI14FEB-E15Update.indd 19 "This misguided policy has cost taxpayers billions of dollars, increased fuel prices and made our food more expensive." — Sen. Tom Coburn Following the introduction of the bill, more than 40 organizations, including NMMA, BoatUS and the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas issued a letter in support. The bill, S. 1807, has been referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works. In October, 96 members of Congress signed a letter urging their colleagues to support lower levels of ethanol in the Renewable Fuel Standard. Several other ethanol-related bills were introduced in 2013. For full coverage of the details and issues around each one, be sure to read our coverage at BoatingIndustry.com, but here's a brief round-up of where they stand. With battles over the budget, health care, the debt ceiling and more, little has happened in Washington. H.R. 875, introduced by Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., blocks the use of any blend of more than 10 percent ethanol until further study can be done on potential damage from the use of E15. That bill was approved out of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology in April 2013 but has had no further action. H.R. 1461 & H.R. 1462, were both introduced by Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va. The two bills call for the reforming of the Renewable Fuel Standard and capping ethanol at 10 percent. Both were introduced in April and referred to the House Subcommittee on Energy & Power. S. 344, introduced by Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Sen. David Vitters, R-La., prohibits the Environmental Protection Agency from issuing waivers for any gasoline blend of more than 10 percent ethanol and would repeal the previous waivers that allowed E15 on the market. The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works in February 2013. February 2014 | Boating Industry | 19 1/8/14 12:19 PM

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