On May 12, 2020, BG&A filed an opening brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in AFPM v. EPA (No. 19-1124), a case concerning EPA’s E15 Rule allowing the year-round sale of gasoline with 15% ethanol. BG&A filed the brief on behalf of a coalition of petitioners that includes non-profit organizations, ethanol producers, farm groups, and fuel retailers affected by the rule.
The petitioners represented by BG&A challenge the E15 Rule’s restrictions on the concentration of ethanol in gasoline. In the E15 Rule, EPA interprets Section 211(f) of the Clean Air Act to forbid the sale of gasoline with more than 15% ethanol. The petitioners argue that this 15% ethanol cap is contrary to law and illegally prevents the year-round sale of gasoline with more than 15% ethanol. In the alternative, the petitioners argue that EPA’s sole basis for the 15% cap was refuted by the scientific evidence submitted during the notice-and-comment period, science that EPA illegally chose to ignore. They ask the Court to remand the E15 Rule so that EPA can justify its ethanol cap based on the science before the Agency, as required by the Clean Air Act.
The opening brief is available here.
20200512i-Opening-Brief-for-website