ICGA STATEMENT REGARDING EPA’s FINAL RULE FOR 2017 ETHANOL BLEND LEVELS

Illinois Corn Growers Association President Justin Durdan, a farmer from Utica, issued the following statement regarding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) issuance of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) Renewable Volume Obligation (RVO) for 2017.

“Corn farmers are thankful this week for a large corn crop, and now, based on U.S. EPA’s announcement regarding the ethanol blending numbers for our nation’s fuel supply, they can also be thankful for an improved demand picture for that large corn crop.

“We’re happy to give credit to EPA for setting the RVO blend number at the 15-billion-gallon mark. That’s consistent with what the industry is producing and also meets the statutory expectation set forth by Congress in the RFS. That said, it’s a volume number that by law should have been adhered to from 2015 forward.

“The RFS is an important part of the ethanol demand for corn farmers, but it’s just one path toward moving more of our homegrown fuel into a market that is looking for high octane, low-carbon fuel choices at the pump. We look forward to continuing our work with EPA on addressing other market barriers for corn-based ethanol.”