The Environmental Protection Agency announced a proposal to lift restrictions on the sale of gasoline containing 15% corn-based ethanol in eight Midwestern states, allowing the blend to be sold year-round rather than just eight months out of the year.

The EPA's proposed rule, announced Wednesday, is a win for the ethanol lobby and corn-state lawmakers, who have promoted legislation and increased pressure on the Biden administration to allow the blend, known as E15, to be sold during the summer driving season permanently.

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E15 is a blend much less widely available around the country than E10 but is especially common in the Midwest, the leading corn-growing region.

Current regulations restrict E15 sales between June and Sept. 15 to limit emissions of smog-causing volatile organic compounds stemming from combustion of the corn-based fuel, although some cities are excepted from the rules.

Governors in Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin requested that the EPA waive restrictions on E15's sale during the summer driving season last April in hopes of making the fuel available for the 2023 summer season.

The EPA's proposal would take effect in April 2024 and would not apply to 2023, frustrating ethanol interests who sought a more speedy approval and argued that the EPA was too slow in acting on the states' petition.

"There is no question the EPA failed to meet the statutory deadline," Iowa Renewable Fuels Association Executive Director Monte Shaw said in a statement. "Now they are using their own tardiness to justify putting off the E15 fix until 2024, leaving Midwest consumers to pay 15 cents per gallon or more than necessary.”

President Joe Biden turned to E15 last spring, ordering the EPA to lift restrictions on its sale nationwide, as a way to lower retail gasoline prices after they rose following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the related spike in oil prices. E15 is cheaper than E10 and nonblended gasoline.

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The decision resurrected a long-standing fight between ethanol interests and independent fuel refiners, who argue the Renewable Fuel Standard makes gasoline more expensive due to the high costs of compliance.