California Democrats are calling E15 “a no-brainer” and rallying behind a proposal to accelerate adoption of the ethanol gasoline blend.
After five years of assessing the pros and cons of adding more ethanol to California’s fuel mix, state agencies are on the verge of approving the higher ethanol blend. Yet Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris, D-Irvine, wants to nudge that ball forward more quickly, as pressure mounts for lawmakers to lower gas prices. Her bill would require the California Air Resources Board to adopt an E15 regulation by July 2025, making California the last state to approve it.
Assembly Bill X2-9 is one of three measures the Legislature has taken up in a special session. Governor Gavin Newsom called for the special session after the Assembly in August — as the session ticked to a close — refused to take up his measure targeting gas price spikes. The issue led to Democratic infighting, with Senate President Pro Tempore Mike McGuire rejecting the idea of returning to Sacramento for Newsom’s bill. He later acquiesced, saying senators would consider the legislation only if the Assembly approves it first.
An Assembly select committee has now held three hearings to evaluate the problem and delve into the governor’s proposal. But the Legislature is adding its own twist with Petrie-Norris’ measure on E15.
Republicans also stepped into the fray by filing six measures claiming to lower gas prices. The committee offered to take up one of those bills but proposed significant amendments, leading the author, Assembly Minority Leader James Gallagher, to pull the legislation before the first hearing.
Asm. Cottie Petrie-Norris, D-IrvineThe bulk of the attention has focused on the governor’s bill, which aims to build a reserve supply to soften price spikes when refineries shut down for maintenance. On the periphery, several lawmakers have shown strong interest in ABX2-9 as well.
“California's fuels market is uniquely vulnerable to supply disruptions and uniquely susceptible to price volatility and price spikes,” Petrie-Norris said during committee debate last week. “That's hurting California families.”
The inspiration for her legislation came from a California Energy Commission report in August outlining additional policy options to stabilize the supply and minimize price spikes at the pump. Boosting the ethanol ratio from the current 10% to the proposed 15% would increase the overall gasoline supply by 5-10%, lowering the price. CEC calculated it would further reduce tailpipe emissions and lead to an 18% drop in fine particulate matter pollution.
Petrie-Norris also seized on a study published in July by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, and the U.S. Naval Academy. It found Californians could save $2.7 billion annually with E15, since the blend would lower gas prices by 20 cents per gallon.
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With those findings, Petrie-Norris described E15 as “a no-brainer” to her colleagues, who were largely receptive.
“It seems to be one of the easiest steps we can take to improve supply, protect the environment, reduce cost,” said Asm. David Alvarez, D-San Diego. “That's what we all want to accomplish with this conversation.”
But the process for approving E15 has been long and complicated, with further delays due to the pandemic. Matthew Botill, a division chief at CARB, explained the state statutes guiding the process. The agency must evaluate the potential air, water and soil impacts. That has led to several studies and literature assessments now under review by an environmental policy committee, which will take six to 12 months. Once that is completed, CARB will consider reopening the rulemaking, triggering several more months of hearings and administrative review.
“It's a resource-intensive process,” said Botill. “It does take time and staff on the CARB side.”
Yet Asm. Heath Flora, R-Ripon, said CARB first started looking into E15 in 1998. He pressed his colleagues to follow the lead of the Oregon Legislature and skip the regulatory process by approving E15 through legislation. He worried CARB is letting perfect get in the way of good in its pursuit of more reliable data on E15.
“Nobody is saying that E15 is the silver bullet,” said Flora. “There are clearly 100 little bullets we have to fire at the same time to actually fix this problem. E15 is a very small part of that solution.”
Petrie-Norris agreed, arguing CARB’s timelines are “wholly incompatible with the sense of urgency” felt by her constituents at the gas station as well as by lawmakers in convening a special session.
Asm. Jim Wood, D-Santa Rosa, felt the urgency as well and lamented that his rural communities experience greater price spikes than urban areas, rising above $7 a gallon at times. He worried about small farmers shouldering the added fuel costs while they invest in zero-emission trucks and equipment to comply with California’s sales bans on gas and diesel engines. He warned the higher costs may trickle down to consumers through higher prices on foods and other commodities.
“A glide path for these communities would be helpful,” said Wood. “As we start looking at the decline in [internal combustion] vehicles, don't freeze out our smaller businesses.”
The sense of urgency, however, has not extended to CARB, according to Neil Koehler, chair of the Renewable Fuels Association. He pointed to research from Botill and his colleagues working on the Low Carbon Fuel Standard that found some ethanol blends have cut gasoline emissions in half.
“The tanks are there, the cars are there, the infrastructure is there, the environmental grade is in,” said Koehler. “It's a plus. We need to get going now.”
A lobbyist for POET LLC, one of the world’s largest ethanol producers, blamed staff and resource constraints for CARB’s slow pace but believed ABX2-9 is a unique opportunity to reenergize the process and provide the resources needed to accelerate the rollout.
Standing in the way were trade unions representing workers at conventional refineries. Paul Fields, vice president of Boilermakers Local 549 in Pittsburgh, California, warned of E15’s shortcomings, citing the Department of Energy’s assessment that E15 cannot be used in motorcycles, boats, lawnmowers and cars older than model year 2001. Martin Rodriguez, president of the Tri-Counties Building and Construction Trades Council, pushed for building more gasoline refineries but raised skepticism over the environmental impacts of ethanol refineries, which fall outside the line of his members.
On Tuesday the Assembly approved ABX2-9 with unanimous support, sending it to the Senate with Newsom's bill.
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