E15 Available: EPA Issues Multi-State Fuel Waivers for E15

​WASHINGTON September 1, 2017; The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a multi-state waiver through September 15, 2017, of the federal Reid vapor pressure (RVP) requirements for  conventional gasoline and Reformulated Gasoline (RFG) for:

• All east coast states in PADD 1: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia;
• All midwestern states located in PADD 2: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Wisconsin; and
• All Gulf coast states located in PADD 3: Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Texas. 

The waiver supersedes and expands the areas covered by the August 30 waiver.

The EPA’s temporary waiver will, in effect, end the summer low RVP sales restrictions and permit the sale of gasoline with up to 15% ethanol in 38 states and the District of Columbia.

Under this temporary waiver, “regulated parties may produce, sell or distribute winter gasoline (including gasoline blendstocks for oxygenate blending (BOBs)) with an RVP of 11.5 pounds per square inch (psi) before the addition of any ethanol in conventional gasoline areas within the designated states.” In addition, EPA will “allow regulated parties to produce, sell or distribute conventional winter gasoline (including BOBs) with an RVP of 11.5 psi before the addition of any ethanol in any RFG covered area within the designated states and [District of Columbia].” Additionally, the EPA is waiving the provisions at 40 C.F.R. § 80.78(a)(7) “that prohibit any person from combining any RFG blendstock for oxygenate blending with any other gasoline, blendstock, or oxygenate, unless certain conditions are met.”

For reformulated gasoline, the EPA will allow regulated parties to produce, sell or distribute conventional winter gasoline with an RVP of 11.5 psi in any RFG covered area within the designated states and Washington, D.C. Additionally, the EPA is waiving the provisions that prohibit any person from combining any RFG blendstock for oxygenate blending with any other gasoline, blendstock, or oxygenate, unless certain conditions are met. This waiver applies to all designated states and D.C.

This waiver is effective immediately and will continue through September 15, 2017, the end of the high ozone season.