NMMA disappointed in EPA’s delay of Renewable Volume Obligations
The Environmental Protection Agency has announced today that it will delay the final rule for the Renewable Volume Obligations (RVO) that tell refiners how much ethanol must be blended into the nation’s fuel supply.
The National Marine Manufacturers Association’s director of federal and legal affairs Nicole Vasilaros says, “NMMA is dismayed by today’s announcement from the EPA delaying their decision on the final 2014 Renewable Volume Obligations until 2015. The delay clearly demonstrates why Congress must act to fix the broken mandate. The move creates even more uncertainty in the marketplace and adds to the confusion surrounding the implementation of the Renewable Fuel Standard. It is also a failure on the part of the EPA to honor their legal obligation to set the RVO levels annually.”
“By punting its decision, the EPA has done nothing to alleviate concerns regarding the continued availability of low-ethanol fuel blends relied upon by the boating industry. Consumers remain at high risk. We have serious, well-documented and data-driven concerns with the safety of high ethanol fuel blends which have been proven to cause damage to marine engines. This damage hurts manufacturers during a time of important economic recovery. The RFS is a broken law which sets unrealistic fuel mandates and requires a long term fix from Congress.”
If NMMA’s federal and legal director, Nicole Vasilaros is ‘dismayed’ about a decision involving three hundred million motor vehicles then she’s not thinking very clearly and this reflects very badly on the NMMA.. All that is needed is an exemption for seasonally used equipment such as boats, lawn mowers, snow blowers, landscaping equipment – thinks that are not only used seasonally but infrequently. Tell Nicole to throw away her ‘H. Ross Perot’ charts, graphs and nonsense and go for the logical and reasonable exemption. The marine service sector has been using the word ‘ethanol’ to blame practically every operational problem of any boat engine they work on – resulting in many, many unnecessary parts replacements. Can’t anyone say ALCOHOL and take the mystery out of the gasoline additive/component? I just LOVE the Brunswick position of stating they will deny warranty claims if they discover that their customer put a 15% alcohol mix fuel in their boat. This could open up a whole new field of employment opportunities – can’t you just see people with cameras at gas stations, just waiting to get pictures or Mercury or Mercruiser powered vessels being fueled with the ‘Wrong Stuff’. It’s interesting to note that Yamaha, Suzuki and Honda (and others) understand EFI systems, anti-knock sensors and adequate pre-filtering of the water element that is the root of the problem when a boat sits all week. Wake up, NMMA, and try to focus on the industry and not Brunswick.