U.S. EPA Denies Georgia’s Request for RFG
Waiver, Ethanol Market Will Meet Needs, Notes NCGA
(10-04-04)
Late
last week, the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) welcomed
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) denial
a Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) request for
a waiver from the Clean Air Act reformulated gasoline (RFG)
requirement.
“This is a major victory for the ethanol market,” said
NCGA Ethanol Committee Chairman Darryl Haack. “The ethanol
market has doubled in the past three years showing that American
consumers want renewable fuels to play a major role in securing
our country’s energy policy. As an Iowa corn grower and ethanol
producer, I can say we are ready to meet the growing demand of
America’s energy needs.”
Georgia’s
request for a waiver stated that the use of RFG in the Atlanta
area would actually increase--not decrease--nitrogen oxide (NOx)
emissions. This adverse environmental impact, according to Georgia,
would have a significant economic cost, and would create supply
and distribution problems.
The EPA conclusions
were based on the legal and technical merits of Georgia’s
request, and the agency therefore did not grant the waiver request.
According to the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) analysis,
Georgia failed to accurately outline the legal grounds to grant
such a waiver, made unreasonable assumptions regarding the sulfur
levels for RFG sold in the area and ignored the substantial reductions
in ozone levels that will be achieved through a reduction in
carbon monoxide emissions that come from oxygenated RFG.
NCGA Chairman
Dee Vaughan in a letter sent to the EPA last Wednesday urged
the agency to continue to uphold the Clean Air Act statutes and
deny Georgia’s request for a waiver from the RFG requirement.
NCGA noted that ethanol not only provides benefits to our environment
by reducing pollution leading to cleaner air, it also plays a major
role in contributing to our nation’s long-term energy security
and creating new business opportunities for corn growers across
America.
With the implementation Jan. 1, 2005 of the RFG requirement, the
ethanol market in the Atlanta region is expected to reach 250-300
million gallons per year, which represents approximately $1 million
of ethanol sold per day.