Biden greenlights E15 summer sales, releases funding guide for local governments in rural infrastructure tour

Senior officials with the Biden administration will visit 30 rural communities this month to tout billions of dollars in funding for rural broadband, water, jobs, roads, and more as part of a "rural infrastructure tour" launched Monday. That includes $14.6 billion in rural-specific programs in the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, which was bipartisan, along with billions more in regional and state funding that will be spent on roads, bridges and waterways in rural areas, Chuck Abbott reports for the Food & Environment Reporting Network.

President Biden is kicking off the tour today with a visit to an ethanol plant in Menlo, Iowa, where he will announce that E15 gasoline will be sold this summer to help drivers save at the pump, Chris Clayton reports for DTN/The Progressive Farmer.

Normally E15, which has 15 percent ethanol, can't be sold from June 1 to Sept. 15 because it generates more air pollution in hot weather. And the Supreme Court ruled in January that the Environmental Protection Agency doesn't have the authority to permanently greenlight E15 sales. But EPA is only issuing an emergency waiver here. A White House spokesperson said EPA "is considering other actions to further spur the use of E15 year-round, including continued talks with states that have already sent requests to EPA about year-round E15," Clayton reports.

The administration published a Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Rural Playbook to help rural governments identify funding opportunities. "It provides information on the 'what, when, where, and how to apply' for funding under the law, according to the White House, and identifies more than 100 programs funded," Alex Gangitano reports for The Hill. "The playbook builds on the guidebook the administration released in January to help state and local governments access funding from the law."

The administration will announce $2 billion in new rural funding this month as part of the tour, White House infrastructure coordinator Mitch Landrieu said. That includes $1 billion for an America the Beautiful Challenge "to combine federal and private funding for locally-led land and water conservation work," Abbott reports. "The government committed $440 million over five years for grants administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation." Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced the funding in Colorado while touring a wildfire-control site.