The Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act: Environmental, Health & Consumer Considerations

The fact sheet argues that extending the one-pound Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) waiver to fuels above E10 would enable the year-round sale of E15, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and consumer costs without compromising air quality. It details how current RVP regulations inadvertently block E15 sales in summer, causing retail costs and consumer losses, while noting that E15 is compatible with nearly 90% of current U.S. vehicles.

• 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, as current Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) standards inadvertently block these sales during summer months.
• Increasing ethanol blends from E10 to E15 is associated with air quality improvements, including a reduction in harmful volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions and a 6.6 percent decrease in the cancer risk of 1-3 butadiene, although it increases the cancer risk associated with acetaldehyde by 1 percent.
• The use of E15 contributes to greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation in the transportation sector; a 5 percentage point increase in blending from E10 to E15 results in an additional 1.5 percent reduction in GHG emissions when using corn ethanol.
• 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. Furthermore, 80 percent of 2017 vehicles have owner manuals that approve E15 use.
• Current RVP regulations create financial burdens for retailers and consumers; the requirement to relabel E15 pumps as "Flex-Fuel Vehicles Only" during summer cost retailers an estimated $200 million in 2017, and the retailer Sheetz reported losing 40 percent of its E15 customer base during the summer transition.
• The transition to summer gasoline blends between March and April typically causes a spike in retail prices, with average increases of 53 cents per gallon between February and late spring from 2000 to 2016.

APA

Stolark, J. (2017). The Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act: Environmental, Health & Consumer Considerations. Environmental and Energy Study Institute. https://www.eesi.org/files/FactSheet-Fuel_Retailer_Choice_Act_092017.pdf

Chicago

Stolark, Jessie. The Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act: Environmental, Health & Consumer Considerations. Environmental and Energy Study Institute, 2017. https://www.eesi.org/files/FactSheet-Fuel_Retailer_Choice_Act_092017.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Stolark |first1=Jessie |title=The Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act: Environmental, Health & Consumer Considerations |publisher=Environmental and Energy Study Institute |date=September 2017 |url=https://www.eesi.org/files/FactSheet-Fuel_Retailer_Choice_Act_092017.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stolark2017consumer, author = {Stolark, Jessie}, title = {{The Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act: Environmental, Health \& Consumer Considerations}}, institution = {Environmental and Energy Study Institute}, year = {2017}, month = sep, url = {https://www.eesi.org/files/FactSheet-Fuel_Retailer_Choice_Act_092017.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }