US Issues Emergency Waiver to Allow Greater Ethanol Content in Gasoline Beginning May 1

A customer pumps gas containing ethanol at Victory Gas Station in Pembroke Pines, Fla., on Nov. 15, 2013. Joe Raedle/Getty ImagesHOUSTON—The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a temporary 20-day emergency fuel waiver that will allow nationwide sales of gasoline with higher blends of ethanol beginning May 1 to boost domestic supplies and temper skyrocketing fuel costs rocking the global economy.After “closely monitoring fuel markets for potential supply disruptions that could create extreme and unusual conditions … we foresee potential for a disruption to the American fuel supply,” EPA Director Lee Zeldin told reporters during a brief March 25 press conference at the 44th annual CERAWeek by S&P Global conference at the Americas Hilton–Houston.