"We've received several inquiries about E15, and whether Oregon plans to require or allow it," said Jason Barber, administrator of the Oregon Department of Agriculture's Measurement Standards Division. "Even though it has been approved by EPA, several other steps need to happen at the state and national [image-nocss] level before consumers can expect E15 at the pump in Oregon."
The most important step is for the governor and state legislature to approve E15. Another step is the creation of national standards for ethanol-gasoline blends up to E15. The American Society for Testing & Materials (ASTM) develops and maintains national standards for certain fuel mixtures, and most states require fuels and fuel blends to meet the appropriate standard.
"We can compare our fuel quality test results against the appropriate ASTM standard to ensure that fuel is safe for consumers to use," said Barber. Currently, ASTM does not have a standard that covers E15.
"We are members of the National Conference on Weights & Measures, as are most other states. We adopt their model fuel-quality rules to ensure consistency with other states," said Barber. "The National Conference is beginning to look at rules for E15, but it could be some time before the rules are approved."
The EPA decision only applies to certain vehicles. The EPA has approved E15 for use in 2007 and newer cars and light trucks. EPA will make a decision on whether to allow E15 for use in model year 2001 to 2006 vehicles after receiving additional test data from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in November. Data for older vehicles are not available, so approval of E15 for older vehicles in the near future is unlikely, said the Oregon Agriculture Department.
Click herefor a Q&A about ethanol in Oregon.
(Click here for previous CSP Daily News coverage of E15 nationwide.)
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