Regulation History of E15 Misfueling
Mitigation Plans
What is E15?
E15, a blend of 15% ethanol and 85% gasoline by volume, may be sold in the United
States as a highway fuel, subject to certain conditions. The Environmental Protec-
tion Agency (EPA) granted two partial waivers that, when taken together, allow,
but do not require, the introduction into commerce of gasoline that contains greater
than 10 volume percent (vol%) ethanol and up to 15 vol% ethanol (E15). The
waivers allow for use of E15 in model year (MY) 2001 and newer light-duty motor
vehicles but require fuel pump labeling and other mitigation measures to prevent
consumers from using El5 in all other vehicles and engines. The waiver decisions
were based on test results provided by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) along
with other test data and information that showed use of E15 will not adversely affect
emissions from 2001 and newer MY vehicles.
El5 may be lawfully sold by a fuel or fuel additive manufacturer only after the manu-
facturer has registered E15 and met the conditions of the partial waivers, which
include a misfueling mitigation plan for minimizing the potential for El5 to be used
in vehicles and engines not covered by the partial waivers. There are a number of
additional factors, including requirements under other federal, state, and local laws
that may also affect the distribution of El5.
Conditions of the E15 waivers
EPA placed two types of conditions on the waivers for E15: (1) those to help prevent
misfueling of E15 into vehicles, engines and equipment that may not use E15; and
(2) those addressing fuel and ethanol quality. All conditions must be met before El5
may be introduced into commerce.
Fuel quality conditions:
> Ethanol used for E15 must meet ASTM International D4806-10.
^ The Reid Vapor Pressure for E15 is limited to 9.0 psi during the summertime.
&EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Transportation and Air Quality
EPA-420-F-15-042
September 2015
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Misfueling mitigation conditions:
> Fuel and fuel additive manufacturers subject to the waivers must submit to EPA a plan
(a misfueling mitigation plan (MMP)), for EPA's approval, and must fully implement
the EPA-approved MMP prior to introduction of the fuel or fuel additive into commerce
as appropriate. The MMP must include provisions that will implement all reasonable
precautions for ensuring that the fuel or fuel additive is only introduced into commerce
for use in MY2007 and newer motor vehicles. Reasonable precautions in an MMP must
include, but are not limited to, the following conditions:
• Labels must be placed on E15 retail dispensers indicating that E15 use is only for
MY2001 and newer motor vehicles;
• Product Transfer Documents (PTDs) must accompany all transfers of fuels for
E15 use;
• Parties involved in the manufacture of El5 must participate in a survey of compliance
at fuel retail dispensing facilities; and
• Any other reasonable measures EPA determines are appropriate.
On June 23, 2011, EPA finalized regulations to help prevent misfueling of vehicles, engines and
equipment not covered by the partial waiver decisions. These regulations require all E15 fuel
dispensers to have a label that informs consumers about what vehicles can, and what vehicles
and equipment cannot, use El5. The rule prohibits the use of gasoline containing more than 10
vol% ethanol in any vehicle, engine, or type of equipment that is not covered by the waivers. The
rule also requires PTDs specifying ethanol content and Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) to accom-
pany the transfer of gasoline blended with ethanol and a survey of retail stations to help ensure
compliance with labeling and ethanol content requirements.
Approval of the model misfueling mitigation plan
On March 2, 2012, the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) submitted the "Renewable Fuels
Association Model El5 Misfueling Mitigation Plan" to EPA for review. RFA developed its Model
Plan to help fuel and fuel additive manufacturers meet the misfueling mitigation conditions of
the partial waivers. On March 15, 2012, EPA informed RFA by letter that the plan would gener-
ally be sufficient to satisfy the partial waivers' MMP requirements. The letter also stated that
companies wishing to use the Model Plan to satisfy their MMP requirement must notify and
seek approval from EPA in writing. EPA indicated that it may seek additional information and/
or misfueling mitigation measures as needed from companies requesting to use the Model Plan.
On June 15, 2012, EPA approved the first MMPs for individual companies. The companies
whose plans were approved had notified EPA in writing that they wished to use the March 2,
2012 Model Plan. Before approving their requests, EPA sought more information about how E15
would be dispensed, particularly from blender pumps. After working with RFA and individual
plan submitters, EPA determined that an addendum to the RFA's Retailer Handbook (PDF),
which is referenced in the Model Plan, provided the necessary information for EPA to approve
the individual plan submitters' MMPs. EPA sent approval letters to companies and created a list
of companies that have approved MMP submissions that is updated at least every two months.
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Approval of alternate blender pump configurations
On February 7, 2013, EPA approved an alternate blender pump configuration, submitted by
RFA, for general use by retail stations that wish to dispense E15 and E10 from a blender pump
with a common hose and nozzle. Blender pumps, or multiple-grade dispensers, are fuel dispensers
that dispense multiple gasoline-ethanol blended fuels (e.g. E10, E15, and E85) typically through
a common hose and nozzle. When two different gasoline-ethanol blended fuels are dispensed
from the same hose and nozzle, residual fuel from a prior fueling of E15 may be commingled with
a subsequent fueling of E10, resulting in the inadvertent misfueling of vehicles not covered by
the El5 partial waivers with fuels containing greater than 10 vol% ethanol.
In an effort to address this potential misfueling issue, EPA approved an industry-submitted
configuration that requires a minimum purchase of four gallons of fuel from blender pumps that
dispense both E10 and E15 from the same hose and nozzle. Such an approach would prevent
misfueling by diluting any residual E15 left in the hose from the previous sale of E15. However,
groups representing motorcycle owners and lawn mower manufacturers objected to this con-
figuration because their products have gas tanks that are normally two gallons or smaller. In
response to these concerns, RFA developed and proposed a third configuration for EPA approval
that retail stations may use as an alternative to the currently approved configurations.
Retail stations that wish to use this alternate configuration must provide a fuel pump with at
least one dedicated hose and nozzle dispensing a gasoline-ethanol blended fuel containing no
more than 10 vol% ethanol (i.e. E10 or lower). These retail stations must also prominently
affix labels to their blender pumps which say "Passenger Vehicles Only. Use in Other Vehicles,
Engines and Equipment May Violate Federal Law." Passenger vehicles in this context do not
include nonroad vehicles, engines, and equipment (e.g. marine engines, motorcycles, ATVs,
lawnmowers, etc.). Retails stations must also post additional signage informing consumers of the
availability and location of the dedicated E10 (or lower) fuel pump.
EPA believes that this alternate configuration is suitable for dispensing El5. Since retail sta-
tions using this configuration would re-direct customers with vehicles, engines, and equipment
not covered by the E15 partial waivers to a dedicated fuel pump that exclusively dispenses E10
or fuel containing less than 10 vol% ethanol, those customers would not inadvertently misfuel
their vehicles, engines, and equipment from a hose that dispensed both E10 and E15 from a
blender pump. Therefore, EPA has approved the configuration for general use.
A retail station that wants to sell E15 from blender pumps can now choose from any of the three
approved configurations, based on its own assessment of what would work best for that station
and its customers, or it may submit a different approach for EPA approval. Companies that
already have previously approved MMPs may use any EPA-approved configuration without
notifying EPA. Companies that newly seek approval to use the March 2, 2012 Model Plan may
choose from any of the three approved configurations. These configurations are discussed in the
sample approval letter and RFA's Retailer Handbook.
Because the March 2, 2012 Model Plan does not spell out the specific elements of a survey plan,
companies that use the Model Plan must submit a survey plan for EPA approval and cannot
introduce El5 into commerce until EPA has approved the survey plan and the plan has been
implemented.
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