Ethanol Week - March 5, 2019

Perdue revises E15 remark; EPA says it will complete rule on time The EPA has issued a statement confirming plans to complete its E15 rule by June 1 in response to remarks made by Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue on Feb. 27 in which he said the rule would not be complete on time. Perdue has since revised his remarks. READ MORE SHARE
Senate confirms Wheeler as EPA administrator The U.S. Senate has voted 52 to 46 along party lines to confirm Andrew Wheeler as administrator of the U.S. EPA. Wheeler has held the post of acting EPA administrator since July 9, 2018, following Scott Pruitt’s resignation earlier that month. READ MORE SHARE
	EPA releases RIN data for December 2018, January 2019 The U.S. EPA has released renewable identification number (RIN) data for December 2018 and January 2019 that shows nearly 19.5 billion RINs were generated last year. During the first month of 2019, RIN generation reached 1.48 billion. READ MORE SHARE
Grassley, Wyden introduce tax extenders bill Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., have introduced a bill to extend 29 tax credits, including those that benefit producers of renewable diesel, second generation biofuels and bioenergy. READ MORE SHARE
ABE considers selling its 2 South Dakota ethanol plants Advanced BioEnergy has begun exploring strategic alternatives for its business operations, including the possible sale of one or both of its South Dakota ethanol plants. ABE also said it plans to continue to operate the plants if no sale occurs. READ MORE SHARE
Minnesota sees record E15 sales in 2018 Statistics released by the Minnesota Department of Commerce show that demand for E15 in the state remains strong, despite the current summertime ban of the fuel. Approximately 59 million gallons of E15 were sold in the state last year. READ MORE SHARE
CropEnergies to restart UK ethanol plant European ethanol producer CropEnergies has announced plans to resume ethanol production at its facility in Wilton, U.K., starting in March. The company said the facility will initially run at reduced capacity to supply orders from British customers. READ MORE SHARE
USDA: December corn use for ethanol up from November The USDA has released its Grain Crushings and Co-Products Production report with data from December, reporting that corn consumed for fuel alcohol was up slightly from the previous month, but down year-over-year. READ MORE SHARE
Perdue says E15 rule not expected to be complete by June 1 Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said Feb. 27 that he does not expect the U.S. EPA to complete its E15 rulemaking by June 1, but added the USDA is encouraging the agency to announce discretionary enforcement of current regulations. READ MORE SHARE
UAI: Delay in SAFE Rule disappointing, but still an opportunity U.S. EPA’s decision to delay fuel economy rules until “later in the year” provides the Urban Air Initiative an opportunity to continue educating the agency on the benefits of clean octane from higher ethanol blends. READ MORE SHARE