Against a backdrop of the largest petroleum-related environmental disaster ever, the American Farm Bureau Federation is dismayed that the Environmental Protection Agency is again delaying a decision to boost the percentage of ethanol that can be blended into the domestic gasoline supply.

“It now appears it will be September or later before a ruling is made on blending 15 percent ethanol (E15),” said American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman.

“The EPA’s delay is frustrating,” Stallman said. “The request to increase the percentage of ethanol that could be blended into our domestic gasoline supply to E15 should be a front-burner issue for EPA. This matter that has been in front of the agency long before the Gulf oil disaster. Ethanol is a clean-burning, home-grown renewable fuel that makes sense.”

Stallman added that regulators also are considering limits to the size of the current market for enhanced ethanol blends to just vehicles from the 2007 or later model years, rather than what originally was thought to include 2001 and newer vehicles. There was also no word on a pending request to immediately approve the use of 12 percent ethanol blends for all vehicles.”

“It is time for our government officials to do everything in their power to expedite the approval process for E15 and to grant an immediate rule for E12,” Stallman said.