EPA to announce decision on ethanol mandate

St. Paul, Minn. — The head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will announce a decision today on whether to suspend the nation's ethanol mandate.

The decision could have major implications for Minnesota's farm sector and ethanol industry.

The EPA was suppose to make the decision by July 24, but the deadline was pushed back to give the agency more time to analyze the impact of ethanol on the U.S. economy.

Last year's energy bill requires gasoline companies to add about 9 billion gallons of ethanol to their fuel this year. But it also allows the EPA to suspend the requirement if the mandate is causing severe economic or environmental harm.

Livestock producers say they have been hurt by the corn based fuel. They blame ethanol production for pushing feed prices so high it's forcing some farmers out of business.

Ethanol companies say the mandate is needed to help their industry grow. EPA officials have received more than 15,000 comments on the ethanol issue.