The Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act

This fact sheet describes the Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act (S.517, H.R. 1311), a legislative proposal to amend the Clean Air Act to allow the year-round sale of E15 fuel. It explains how current Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) standards inadvertently block E15 sales during summer months, the environmental and economic impacts of these restrictions, and the potential for higher ethanol blends to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fuel costs.

• The Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act (S.517, H.R. 1311) seeks to amend the Clean Air Act to permit the year-round sale of E15 (15 percent ethanol and 85 percent gasoline). Currently, Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) standards—which cap gasoline volatility during summer months to control smog—block the sale of E15 in most regions during the summer.
• Increasing ethanol content from E10 to E15 is associated with several environmental benefits, including a reduction in harmful volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions and a decrease in cancer-causing emissions. Specifically, while it increases the cancer risk of acetaldehyde by 1 percent, it reduces the cancer risk of 1-3 butadiene by 6.6 percent.
• Higher ethanol blends can significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the transportation sector. Domestically-produced corn ethanol is on average 43 percent less GHG intensive than gasoline, and increasing the blend from E10 to E15 results in an additional 1.5 percent reduction in GHG emissions.
• E15 is compatible with nearly 90 percent of cars currently on the road, including all Flex-Fuel Vehicles and model year 2001 and newer vehicles. As of 2017, 80 percent of new vehicles have owner manuals that approve the use of E15, including those from Ford, General Motors, Chrysler, Toyota, Honda, Volkswagen Group, and Takata Motors.
• The seasonal transition to summer gasoline blends contributes to retail price spikes. Between 2000 and 2016, gasoline prices increased by 9 to 42 percent between February and late spring, with an average increase of 53 cents per gallon, due to more expensive blending components and a more lengthy refining process.
• Current regulations impose significant costs and sales losses on E15 retailers. In 2017, the cost of switching pump labels twice a year to designate E15 as 'Flex-Fuel Vehicles Only' during the summer was estimated at $200 million across the industry. Additionally, the retailer Sheetz reports losing 40 percent of its E15 customer base during the summer transition.
• As of September 2017, 952 gasoline retailers across 29 states offer E15, an increase from 342 stations in 2014. The expansion of E15 availability is being supported by the Biofuels Infrastructure Partnership (BIP), a 2015 grant program providing $210 million to install blender pumps at gas stations.

APA

Stolark, J. (2017). The Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act. Environmental and Energy Study Institute. https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/fact-sheet-the-consumer-and-fuel-retailer-choice-act

Chicago

Stolark, Jessie. The Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act. Environmental and Energy Study Institute, 2017. https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/fact-sheet-the-consumer-and-fuel-retailer-choice-act.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Stolark |first1=Jessie |title=The Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act |publisher=Environmental and Energy Study Institute |date=18 September 2017 |url=https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/fact-sheet-the-consumer-and-fuel-retailer-choice-act |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stolark2017consumer, author = {Stolark, Jessie}, title = {{The Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act}}, institution = {Environmental and Energy Study Institute}, year = {2017}, month = sep, url = {https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/fact-sheet-the-consumer-and-fuel-retailer-choice-act}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }