Indiana Senate Bill 303 is a bill that has passed the Indiana House and Senate that will require additional labeling for gas pumps that distribute E15 in Indiana. It is now making its way to Governor Eric Holcomb for his signature.
“We are calling on Governor Eric Holcomb to veto Senate Bill 303,” says Tim Phelps, executive director of the Indiana Ethanol Producers Association. He says Senate Bill 303 is an anti-ethanol, anti-farmer, and anti-fuel choice piece of legislation.
“We strongly believe that Senate Bill 303 will, quite frankly, and why it’s important for Indiana farmers, will directly result in less corn being ground in Indiana to go to products like E15.”
Phelps points out that E15 was approved 10 years ago by the EPA and since then, Americans have driven 20 billion trouble-free miles on E15. E15 is available for use in any passenger vehicle 2001 and newer which represents 97% of cars on the road today.
So, with all of that in mind, Phelps questions why Indiana would need an additional label warning consumers about E15 that could only potentially confuse them.
“E15 already has a label. It’s mandated by the federal government, and it provides this guidance to consumers as to which vehicles the fuel is approved for and which it isn’t. Any state or local label is expressly preempted by both the EPA and FTC regulations. And more than that, the federal government today is undergoing a rulemaking process to make updates to that label. So, really, this is the wrong label in Indiana, this is the wrong bill for Indiana, and this is the wrong time for Indiana, and we really think that the governor should veto the bill.”
And Phelps believes farmers should want the governor to veto this bill as well. He’s calling on all farmers in the state to help get that message to Governor Holcomb.
“Our friends at Growth Energy have set up a convenient tool that everyone can use. You can text the term ‘VETONOW’ to 52886, and what that’ll do is it’ll set you up and you can send a note to Governor Holcomb telling him that you support E15, you want the state of Indiana to support E15 and not try to sabotage sales of E15 across the state, and urge him to veto this bill.”
Plant managers from 9 Indiana ethanol plants have already sent a letter to Governor Holcomb urging the veto. Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor has also sent a letter to Holcomb.
To learn more about the bill and the impacts it could have, listen to the full interview with Phelps below.