## Trump EPA Waives Summer Volatility Rules for E15 Gasoline, Boosting Biofuels and Corn Farmers
The Trump administration is moving to expand the summer market for higher-ethanol fuel, delivering a direct win for the biofuels industry and its agricultural base. The Environmental Protection Agency will grant a waiver exempting E15 gasoline—a blend containing 15% ethanol—from federal volatility requirements that have historically blocked its sale during the peak summer driving season. This regulatory shift effectively opens the pump for millions more gallons of corn-based fuel from June 1 to September 15.

The decision is a significant policy fulfillment for the Renewable Fuels Standard's advocates, primarily Midwestern corn farmers and ethanol producers like Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. and POET LLC, who have long argued the restrictions were outdated and unfairly limited market access. The volatility rules, designed to limit smog-forming emissions, applied to gasoline with 10% ethanol or more; the waiver now carves out E15, arguing its higher ethanol content does not increase evaporative emissions.

This action intensifies the ongoing political and economic clash between the biofuels lobby and the oil refining industry, which opposes the expansion as a threat to its market share and has warned of potential legal challenges. While framed as a consumer choice and rural economic boost, the move also recalibrates the energy and agricultural policy landscape ahead of the 2020 election, applying direct pressure on the EPA to manage the cross-currents of environmental regulation, energy markets, and farm-state politics.
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- **Source**: Bloomberg Markets
- **Sector**: The Network
- **Tags**: Trump Administration, Biofuels, Energy Policy, Renewable Fuels Standard, Agriculture
- **Credibility**: unverified
- **Published**: 2026-03-25 18:26:54
- **ID**: 33803
- **URL**: https://whisperx.ai/en/intel/33803