Media

 Washington, D.C. — Congressman Jim Baird (IN-04) joined a bipartisan group of Congressional biofuels leaders as an original co-sponsor to H.R. 4410 – the Year-Round Fuel Choice Act. This piece of critical legislation for Rural America allows for the year-round sale of low-carbon E15 fuel blends following a Washington D.C. circuit court’s decision to block a rule by President Trump’s Administration that allowed these sales. 

“E15 is a high-quality fuel that provides drivers a higher octane at a lower cost; while simultaneously reducing carbon emissions and boosting demand for American corn instead of foreign oil,” said Congressman Baird. “This decision is a blow to Hoosier farmers and the American driver – we must stand up to EPA bureaucrats in supporting low carbon fuels that give consumers choice and build demand for Indiana corn. I’m proud to join my colleagues in in this important effort.”

As a member of the House Agriculture Committee and the House Biofuels Caucus, Congressman Baird is a leading voice for agricultural biofuels and champions the beneficial impacts they have  on climate change mitigation, vehicle performance, and the financial stability of West Central Indiana communities and farmers.

Background:

E15 is a gasoline-based fuel blended with up to 15 percent of ethanol made by distilling Indiana-grown field corn. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates the evaporative emissions (Reid Vapor Pressure or “RVP”) of auto fuels under the Clean Air Act; though a 1992 amendment to the act allowed for a 1-pound variance in the pressure of fuels blended with up to 10 percent ethanol, it does not account for higher blends. After years of unwillingness by EPA bureaucrats to make the needed changes to the Act, President Trump directed a rulemaking in 2019 to extend this pressure variance to E15 – a July 2, District of Columbia circuit court ruling overturned this action. H.R. 4410 – the Year-Round Fuel Choice Act would fix this regulatory quagmire once and for all by amending the Clean Air Act to insert the words “or more” to the 10% blend waiver.