Today, EPA granted BG&A’s appeal in a Freedom of Information Act case seeking records pertaining to EPA’s patent for engines designed to operate on mid-level ethanol blends. BG&A filed this FOIA request on behalf of Urban Air Initiative and the Energy Future Coalition.
Although EPA initially conducted an inadequate search, BG&A challenged this search in an agency appeal. On appeal, EPA recognized that its initial search was inadequate and released new records responsive to BG&A’s FOIA request.
EPA’s patent application and the internal records released as a result of BG&A’s FOIA request demonstrate that EPA is well aware of the efficiency and economic benefits of engines optimized to operate on mid-level ethanol blends. In addition, the records released by EPA show that private parties sought EPA’s cooperation to commercialize engines optimized to operate on mid-level ethanol blends.