NPRA decries US EPA plan for E15 gasoline labels
Charles T. Drevna, president of the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association (NPRA), issued a statement on Tuesday in response to the Environmental Protection Agency’s E15 misfueling rule.
The statement from Drevna is as follows:
“EPA’s decision to rely solely on retail gasoline pump labels to protect consumers from misfueling with gasoline containing 15% ethanol is woefully inadequate and compounds the fundamental mistakes EPA made in approving the sale of E15 in 2010.
"The rule is a terrible miscalculation and terrible news for millions of Americans who will inevitably face costly repair bills after misfueling their cars, trucks, motorcycles, boats, snowmobiles and outdoor power equipment with gasoline containing 15% ethanol.
“The last time EPA allowed two types of gasoline to be sold side-by-side at retail stations – when leaded gasoline was phased out in the 1970s – EPA’s own statistics reported that more than 20% of motorists mistakenly or intentionally misfueled their vehicles.
“This high rate of misfueling occurred despite the fact that EPA mandated physical barriers – fill pipe restricters on vehicles and smaller nozzles on gasoline retail dispensers – in addition to pump labels. EPA’s apparent conclusion that pump labels alone will educate and warn consumers about the dangers of E15 misfueling flies in the face of EPA’s own experience and data and could be classified as arbitrary.
“NPRA members remain committed to consumer protection and to continuing to manufacture safe and reliable fuel for use by American families. This is why we asked the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia earlier this year to overturn EPA’s approval of the use of 15% ethanol in gasoline.
“And it is why NPRA and others will be reviewing the misfueling rule carefully to determine if EPA has unlawfully abdicated its consumer and environmental protection responsibilities under the Clean Air Act.”
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