Senate Republicans will include language to permanently allow year-round sales of E15 fuel in the farm bill they plan to mark up next Thursday, according to two people familiar with the plans.
The E15 language that senators are planning to attach to their package is a scaled-back version of the bill the House passed in May. The House bill narrowed exemptions for certain small refiners, a provision that became a sticking point for some GOP senators.
Senate Agriculture Chair John Boozman (R-Ark.) is set to formally schedule the farm bill markup for Aug. 6. His bill will include E15 language that more closely mirrors legislation championed by Sens. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), according to the two people, who were granted anonymity to discuss the private negotiations.
Republican senators have spent recent weeks negotiating an approach that would expand ethanol sales while addressing refining industry concerns. They ultimately concluded that attaching the provision to the farm bill offered its best chance of becoming law this year, according to the two people.
