To bolster America’s domestic fuel supply and lower fuel prices, U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA) called on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to grant a specific federal waiver that would allow for the sale of higher ethanol blends.
“The EPA has routinely exercised this authority regionally in response to unforeseen fuel supply challenges,” Rep. Hinson said in a March 8 statement. “The Biden administration can lower gas prices for every single American family and protect our national security by taking this commonsense step now.”
Rep. Hinson requested that the EPA issue a nationwide Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) waiver. The EPA has granted at least five statewide or regional RVP waivers in the last three years to mitigate the impact of fuel supply shortages, according to the congresswoman’s statement.
In fact, the EPA most recently granted a federal RVP waiver in Louisiana and Mississippi following fuel shortages caused by Hurricane Ida, and granted another federal RVP waiver in 13 states following the Colonial Pipeline hack, the statement says.
Amid skyrocketing gas prices across the United States, Rep. Hinson called on the EPA to immediately grant the nationwide RVP waiver, and she advised the White House against “asking dictators in Venezuela and Iran to produce more oil.”
Instead, said Rep. Hinson, the Biden administration should fully utilize domestic, clean energy solutions like biofuels. And she added that Iowa biofuels producers in her home state “stand ready to bolster our fuel supply and stabilize prices.”
“The Biden administration should not continue to leave American energy as a last resort — their policies have put us in a position of crisis and vulnerability,” said Rep. Hinson.