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Big Oil to take EPA's ethanol blend law to Supreme Court

Big Oil's flagship trade association – the American Petroleum Institute – and eight other industry groups have filed with the US Supreme Court to stop higher blends of ethanol (specifically, 15 percent, or E15) from entering the US gasoline supply. They're asking the Supreme Court to overturn a federal appeals court's ruling that they lack standing to legally challenge the US Environmental Protection Agency's waivers that gasoline with 15 percent ethanol can be sold in the US.

Last month, the US Circuit Court of Appeals Court for the District of Columbia upheld that none of the 17 petitioners – including API, engine manufacturers and food producers – had legal standing to challenge E15 partial waivers that the EPA had issued in 2012.

"Had EPA stayed within its statutory authority and followed proper procedures, it would have waited until ongoing E15 testing on engines and fuel systems was completed before allowing the use of E15," API downstream group director Bob Greco told reporters. "Then it would have discovered that E15 is not safe for millions of vehicles now on the road."

API is being joined in the lawsuit by the food industry, including groups like the Grocery Manufacturers Association, American Meat Institute and the Snack Food Council. The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, the other large US oil and gas association, will file their own petition to the Supreme Court before an April 15 deadline.

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