USA - EPA Drops Minimum 4-Gallon Purchase Requirement For Motorcycles And ATV’s

OFF THE WIRE
The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) reports that the the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is scrapping its requirement that all consumers buy at least 4 gallons of gasoline from certain gas stations using blender pumps that dispense E10 and E15 through the same hose. The vast majority of motorcycles and ATVs in use today aren’t designed to operate on E15 fuel (15 percent ethanol by volume) and the residual E15 fuel left in a fueling hose could be detrimental to the performance of motorcycle or ATV engines
“With E15 gasoline, our members who make a concerted effort to fuel their motorcycles or ATVs with E10-or-less gasoline may be unknowingly refueling with residual fuel left in the hose,” Wayne Allard, AMA vice president for government relations, had said to the EPA. It’s when the EPA first revealed a minimum-purchase of 4 gallons of gasoline to to dilute any residual E15 fuel left in the hose.

On Dec. 17, in response to ongoing AMA concerns, the EPA indicated to the AMA that it would no longer require a minimum purchase of 4 gallons. Instead, the EPA will now likely require a label on blender pumps that dispense E10 and E15 through the same hose that state the pump is solely for passenger cars and trucks.
Ethanol is essentially grain alcohol produced from crops such as corn that is mixed with gasoline to produce an ethanol-gasoline blend motor fuel. In October 2010, the EPA approved the use of E15 in model year 2007 and newer light-duty vehicles (cars, light-duty trucks and medium-duty passenger vehicles). Then, in January 2011, the EPA added model year 2001-06 light-duty vehicles to the approved list.
No motorcycles or ATVs are currently on the list.