Senate GOP plans to add year-round ethanol legislation to farm bill: report

Senate Republicans are planning to add language that would permanently allow for year-round sales of E15 gasoline into the farm bill that is scheduled for mark-up next Thursday. 

The E15 language is less ambitious than the version of the bill the House passed in May, which narrowed exemptions for certain small refiners. Some Republican senators opposed the provision. 

Senate Agriculture Chair John Boozman, R-Ark., plans to schedule the mark-up on Thursday, Aug. 6. The E15 language is similar to legislation pushed by Sens. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., and Shelly Capito, R-W.Va., Politico reported, citing unnamed sources. 

Republican senators have been engaged in negotiations, hoping to find a path for legislation that would expand ethanol sales while addressing the refining industry's concerns. Attaching the language to the farm bill offered the best chance of passing the legislation, sources familiar with the plans said.