California lawmakers continue to weigh resources for state regulators to expedite their review of higher-ethanol gasoline blends this legislative session.
Dovetailing with a request from governor Gavin Newsom (D) in October 2024 to speed the California Air Resources Board's (CARB) review, state legislators are considering several bills to appropriate the needed funds and authorize California to allow the use and sales of a 15pc ethanol blend (E15).
AB 30, sponsored by Assembly members David Alvarez (D) and Heath Flora (R), would require CARB to complete a rulemaking allowing blends up to E15 by 1 July, citing the urgency of lowering fuel costs in the state. If the agency cannot meet this deadline, the bill would automatically approve these higher blends for sale.
Currently, the state does not allow blends higher than E10 because of environmental concerns, such as the potential for increased emissions of NOx, which contributes to smog.
"E15 is already approved in 49 other states so it's high time that California joins in," Alvarez's office said.
The bill is currently before the Assembly Natural Resources Committee.
But its timeline would be difficult for CARB to meet.
To get to the point where it could hold a rulemaking to allow E15, the agency first must finish the multi-tier study it began in 2018, at the direction of lawmakers, to evaluate adoption of the higher blend. On average, the process lasts two to five years and requires a workgroup to determine whether any new fuel will have new environmental or public health impacts.
Transportation-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions remain the largest obstacle to the state's climate goals, which include a 40pc reduction in emissions by 2030 from 1990 levels, and net zero in 2045. This sector accounted for 139.9mn metric tonnes, or 37.7pc, of statewide emissions in 2022, the most recent year for data.
While state officials have set increasing targets for electric and zero-emission vehicle adoption, the economy and consumer demand still center on conventional fuels, with retail price spikes prompting Newsom to call a special session last year and reigniting the push for use of E15.
The state effort joins other recent E15 initiatives on the regional and nationwide level.
In February, a group of bipartisan US lawmakers introduced legislation that would make E15 available year-round. The higher blend currently is not available during the summer months because the federal Clean Air Act extends a fuel volatility waiver to E10 gasoline but not E15. The bill could be incorporated into larger government funding packages later this year.
In addition, a host of midcontinent states are set to gain year-round access to E15 beginning on 28 April — a measure that oil groups have opposed because of logistical challenges of supplying the required boutique gasoline blendstock on a regional basis.
But the growing federal focus on E15 does not allow California to bypass its process to adopt new fuels.
CARB completed the report required by Tier I of this process in 2020 but must still finish the outstanding reports required under the next two tiers, including addressing issues like data gaps and the suitability of the fuel. The agency has also said it needs to address the potential for increased participation in the state Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) and other programs as a result of rising production and consumption of E15.
CARB is seeking $2.3mn in ongoing funds for additional staff and resources to complete the review, which it estimates could be done by mid-2025, as part of the 2025-26 state budget. But the agency would not adopt regulations until the second quarter of 2026, well past the deadline in AB 30.
The governor's January budget proposal, now reflected in budget bills AB 227 and SB 65, included nearly $2.3mn/yr to support completion of the study. But the state's nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) last month recommended limiting the funding to two years and later consider additional money if CARB decides to adopt E15.
