Sensenbrenner Outraged by EPA's 'Four Gallon Minimum' Rule

By CnAgri2012-09-19 19:56:36 Print

A Wisconsin Congressman says the Environmental Protection Agency has gone too far with its newest rule that requires consumers to purchase a minimum of four gallons when buying fuel from a gas station that sells gasoline containing 10 and 15 percent ethanol out of the same gas pump. In an editorial published in The Hill newspaper, Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner says the latest mandate handed down from the agency is 'ridiculous,' and calls the move an 'overreach' by a government agency.

"At the insistence of the ethanol industry, the Obama Administration is pushing E15 into the marketplace, regardless of the serious concerns about the fuel's impact on drivers," Sensenbrenner wrote in his column. "From its inception, E15 is a study in the consequences of government interference in the marketplace. The EPA's decision to set a minimum purchase requirement is just the most recent example."

The EPA says their rule aims to keep consumers from misfueling motorcycles and outdoor power equipment with the E85, which is only approved for newer vehicles. They say if the rule wasn't enforced, a motorcyclist who followed an E15 customer at the pump, but who only purchased two gallons of E10, could receive enough E15 residual from the hose to violate an engine warranty.

But the Brookfield Republican adds that since most lawnmowers, motorcycles and snow blowers don't even hold four gallons of gas, the rule will not do much good.

"This type of government meddling is completely contradictory to our free market principles, and it is a dangerous precedent to set," Sensenbrenner said. "If the government has the power to mandate a minimum amount of gas we can buy, what else can they mandate?"

Congressman Sensenbrenner has been critical of other government mandates involving ethanol in recent years. In early 2011, he unsuccessfully introduced legislation that would block the EPA from granting an increase to the mandatory ethanol blend from 10 percent to 15 percent.