Could Gov't Be Liable for Harm Caused by Higher Ethanol Blend, Congressmen Ask
By Scott Doggett December 10, 2009
Two prominent House Republicans asked the Government Accountability Office today to investigate whether the federal government could be held responsible if higher ethanol blends harm engines or vehicle equipment.
The request from Energy and Commerce Committee ranking member Joe Barton of Texas and Representative Greg Walden of Oregon, the top Republican on the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, seeks information that could potentially be used to make an argument against allowing higher ethanol blends.
"It is imperative that Congress have some measure of the potential costs of infrastructure and liability risks should higher blends be mandated," the lawmakers wrote in a letter.
At issue is U.S. EPA's consideration of whether to allow the mixing of larger amounts of ethanol with gasoline. GAO last August found that the United States may soon reach an ethanol "blend wall," in which more ethanol is available than can be used at current blending rates.
Biofuels advocate Growth Energy petitioned the agency to raise the blend wall by allowing more ethanol in gasoline, since regulations currently restrict ethanol in gasoline to no more than 10 percent.
Facing saturation of their market at today's allowed blending level, ethanol producers have said a higher blending level is necessary to support the growing biofuels industry.
The petition to raise the ethanol blending level has been opposed by automakers, equipment manufacturers, petroleum refiners and blenders, and environment and public health groups. Their fear: E15 (a blend of 15 percent ethanol and 85 percent gasoline) or other higher blends could degrade older engines, gas pumps and exhaust emission control systems not specifically built to handle more than E10.
EPA said last week that it may raise the limit but delayed a final decision on the matter until the middle of next year to allow for additional testing.
In the meantime, Barton and Walden want GAO to analyze some of the potential downsides of a higher ethanol limit. Specifically, the lawmakers asked GAO to consider whether the federal government could be held liable if it approves higher ethanol blends and the fuel harms equipment, engines or distribution infrastructure.
The letter also requests an assessment of what parts of the vehicle and infrastructure system could be most at risk, as well as research on durability and economic challenges of ethanol pipelines.
In a letter last week to Growth Energy, EPA hinted that it is likely to support raising the ethanol limit. The agency said two tests it has completed on E15 suggest that engines in newer cars will likely be able to accommodate the fuel.
EPA Assistant Administrator Gina McCarthy wrote that in order to meet the renewable fuels standard, it is "clear that ethanol will need to be blended into gasoline at levels greater than the current limit of 10 percent."
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