OPEI says EPA E15 ruling may take away consumer choice, could harm products
Kris Kiser, executive vice president of the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI), issued the following statement June 28 in response to the Environmental Protection Agency’s E15 misfueling rule:
“EPA’s decision to bring E15 on the market without requiring stations to carry the legacy fuel (E10) will unfortunately lead to misfueling. There are millions of off-road, small-engine equipment (lawn mowers, chain saws, motorcycles, snowmobiles, boats) and older cars on the market that are not designed to run on E15. Labeling is not enough. EPA, consistent with prior precedent, should ensure consumer choice by requiring the continued sale of E10 gasoline blends to avoid harming existing products or posing safety risks.”
A detailed fact sheet on the joint petition filing can be found at: http://members.opei.org/news/detail.dot?id=12146
Background
Growth Energy, an ethanol industry trade group, petitioned the EPA in March 2009 to raise the limit on ethanol in gasoline from 10 to 15 percent. Several engine product and auto manufacturers, as well as others urged EPA to be deliberative in its review process, assuring thorough and adequate testing to ensure that E15 would not harm existing products or pose safety risks. By approving E15 use in a small subset of engines on the road, there is a high risk that consumers will unknowingly or mistakenly put E15 in products for which it has not been approved.
In March 2011, auto, marine, motorcycle, outdoor power equipment, personal watercraft and snowmobile groups filed a petition for rulemaking June 28, asking the EPA to ensure the continued sale and availability of gasoline blends of no greater than 10-percent ethanol (E10) for the 400 million engine products used by tens of millions of people every day in the United States.
About OPEI
The Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI) is an international trade association, representing more than 80 engine and equipment manufacturers worldwide in the utility, forestry, landscape, and lawn and garden industry. OPEI is a recognized Standards Development Organization for the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and active internationally through the International Standards Organization (ISO) in the development of safety standards. For more information, visit www.OPEI.org.
