Groups Press Pruitt

Pruitt met with a coalition of Nebraska farm groups called Common Sense Nebraska as part of a trip this week through the Midwest that included stops in Kansas and South Dakota. Pruitt may have wanted to focus on waters of the U.S., but Pruitt spent most of the Nebraska meeting answering questions about the Renewable Fuels Standard, E15 and small refinery waivers. The themes were similar with the events in South Dakota and Kansas. With the agriculture economy on the ropes as a result of low commodity prices and trade battles, farm groups pressed Pruitt to provide a timeline on when the agency will approve year-round sales of E15, gasoline blended up to 15% ethanol. "We stand ready to proceed," Pruitt said. "I can't give you a timeframe but we're doing the work. I was encouraged to bring the parties together and I brought the parties together, and I said can you help us find an answer. There is a way forward here. I feel confident the statute provides for it (E15). We're in a pause period, but there is a desire to do it." Ideally, Pruitt said he'd like to see E15 on a fast track of about four months to approval, but that is likely optimistic. Because rulemaking takes time, he said, year-round E15 may not happen in 2018. "The issue is, when will it penetrate the marketplace?" Pruitt said. "It may take three years."