EPA expected to rule on ethanol mandate

by Mark Steil, Minnesota Public Radio

St. Paul, Minn. — A decision on the federal ethanol mandate is expected this week from the Environmental Protection Agency.

The governor of Texas requested earlier this year that the ethanol mandate be lifted. He argued ethanol production has boosted the price of corn so high it's hurting livestock producers and other parts of the economy.

EPA Press Secretary Jonathan Shradar says the issue has produced a lot of public interest.

"We've received over 15,000 comments both for and against a waiver. Close to 200 that had technical support from scientific and economic research that was done to prove their point. And so that's being analyzed by our staff and the administrator will make his final decision soon," Shrader said.

The ethanol mandate requires that U.S. motorists use at least nine billion gallons of ethanol this year. Ethanol supporters say lifting the mandate would hurt the renewable fuels industry.