The US Environmental Protection Agency said on Thursday it would temporarily ease gasoline blending requirements beginning Sept. 1, a move it said would boost fuel supplies and help lower prices at the pump.
The EPA, in consultation with the Department of Energy, said it would allow gasoline containing 10% ethanol, known as E10, to be sold at a higher Reid Vapor Pressure during the final weeks of the summer driving season.
The agency said that the waiver is expected to increase domestic gasoline supplies by hundreds of thousands of barrels per day by ending the summer gasoline-blend requirement ahead of schedule.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said that the agency has taken decisive action, including issuing RVP waivers, to provide relief at the pump and fortify our gasoline supply chain.
The waiver will remain in effect through Sept. 15, when the federal summer gasoline control period ends, the EPA said. It will also temporarily override certain state-level fuel controls in Texas, Arizona and California that extend beyond Sept. 15, for up to 20 days as permitted under the Clean Air Act.
The agency said it would continue monitoring gasoline supplies in those states and could extend the emergency measures if market conditions warranted.
The EPA said it was issuing the waiver in advance to give fuel producers and distributors time to adjust their supply and distribution systems.
The agency has used emergency fuel waivers since May 1 to ease fuel restrictions, saying the measures have helped reduce gasoline prices in states that adopted similar requirements.
The EPA has criticized states including New York and California for maintaining their own fuel requirements, saying those rules have contributed to higher gasoline prices.