EPA raises amount of ethanol that must be blended with gas

By DAVID PITT
Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Biden administration has set new requirements that increase the amount of ethanol that must be blended into the nation’s gasoline supply. The Environmental Protection Agency says it will set the 2022 levels for corn-based ethanol blended into gasoline at 15 billion gallons. But even as the new rules increase future ethanol requirements, the EPA is retroactively reducing levels for 2020 by 2.5 billion gallons and by 1.2 billion gallons for 2021. That reflects the lower amount of ethanol produced and decreased sales of gasoline during a period when the virus led to a drop in driving.