What Happened?

If you fill up at a gas station, the ethanol industry is pushing to make a higher-ethanol gas called E15 available all summer, not just part of the year. POET, one of the country’s largest ethanol producers, reported $800,000 in lobbying costs for its own staff from July through September, and five outside firms reported another $360,000, according to the company’s federal lobbying reports and a Legis1 review of its disclosures. ​

The company’s own total is up from $770,000 in the spring and matches what it reported a year earlier. The figures may overlap, since a company’s total can include what it pays outside firms, and federal rules round them to the nearest $10,000. POET’s report lists the Nationwide Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act along with a long list of fuel, farm and tax issues, including the federal rules that require refiners to blend biofuels into gasoline.

Why Does it Matter to Me?

Most gas sold in the U.S. is E10, which is up to 10% ethanol. Federal smog rules limit E15 sales in many places during the summer, and the bill would end that limit nationwide. The House passed it 218 to 203 on May 13, Reuters reported.

The bill would also tighten the exemptions small oil refineries can get from the biofuel rules, and the Congressional Budget Office estimates it would add about $2.3 billion to federal deficits over 10 years. POET’s report also lists efforts to add year-round E15 to the farm bill and a spending bill.

Both Sides, Now

Supporters say the change would give farmers and drivers a steady market. House passage is “a major step toward securing stability and certainty for American producers and consumers,” said Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE), the Senate bill’s sponsor, in a May 13 statement.

Opposition comes from several directions. A group of 33 environmental organizations, including the World Resources Institute and the Sierra Club, warned senators in a July letter that more ethanol “would ultimately lead to higher food and fuel costs for American families,” citing an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimate of about $41 billion over three years. Conservative groups such as the Competitive Enterprise Institute call the biofuel rules a hidden tax, and refiners say tighter exemptions would raise their costs.

What Happens Next?

The bill needs 60 votes in the Senate, where similar efforts failed in 2024 and January. Separately, the EPA proposed Oct. 13 that larger refiners make up the biofuel volumes it excused small refineries from blending for 2025, and it is taking public comments through Friday, Dec. 4. Any bill not passed by Jan. 3, 2027, would have to start over in the next Congress.

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