{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=0B412278-AC0C-49D8-992A-CA979771A213", "After Heitkamp Push, Administration Announces Plan to Allow Year-round Sale of E15", "2018-10-09", "2018", "2018-10", "Democrat", "House", "ND", "Heidi Heitkamp", "H001069", "www.heitkamp.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp today released the following statement after the administration announced plans to allow year-round sale of E15, which Heitkamp has strongly pushed for to support North Dakota farmers and biofuel producers.\r\nIn my longstanding fight for North Dakota farmers, I've repeatedly told the President and everyone in this administration who would listen that year-round E15 would be a boost for rural America, and I'm encouraged they finally listened, Heitkamp said. This victory has been a long time coming for North Dakota farmers and biofuel producers. At a time when the trade war is threatening commodity prices, we need to do everything we can to support farmers, and upholding our commitment to biofuels is one way to give ag producers some much needed certainty. After working in a bipartisan way to build support for E15 and protect the RFS, I look forward to continuing to work with the President and the administration to make sure this policy is implemented in a way that protects farmers and biofuel producers in North Dakota.\r\nHeitkamp has long pushed the President and administration officials to strongly support biofuels and allow year-round sale of E15. In 2016, she met with EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and secured a commitment from him to live up to the administration's stated support of a strong Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) to support farmers and biofuel producers.\r\nLast March, Heitkamp spoke out forcefully against reports that the administration was considering an artificial cap on Renewable Identification Number (RIN) prices, threatening to sink the price of biofuels like ethanol, and pushed for year-round sale of E15.\r\nAfter helping to secure a commitment from the President to enact the policy last April, Heitkamp repeatedly pushed former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to carry it out. When Andrew Wheeler took over as Acting EPA Director in July, Heitkamp immediately pushed him to make year-round E15 a top priority and urged him to visit North Dakota to see firsthand the impact that renewable fuels have on North Dakota's economy.\r\nLast month, Heitkamp urged Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to push for year-round E15 in an effort to help farmers who are being hurt by the trade war.\r\nHeitkamp has been leading the fight for a strong RFS and against efforts to undermine the important program for North Dakota farmers and ethanol producers. She has repeatedly pressed the administration to uphold its commitment to a strong RFS, and led a bipartisan push to urge the EPA to increase its proposed 2019 Renewable Volume Obligations (RVOs) for biodiesel.\r\nAs a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Heitkamp has been a vocal advocate for biodiesel and ethanol  industries that support over 400,000 American jobs, including many in North Dakota. Heitkamp has fought for the EPA to provide certainty to farmers and biofuels workers, and has continually pressed the agency to issue a strong RFS rule.\r\nIn North Dakota, nearly 50 percent of corn can be turned into ethanol, according to the North Dakota Corn Growers Association, reinforcing how important it is that we maintain a robust biofuels market through the Renewable Fuel Standard.\r\nAccording to astudyconducted last year by LMC International and released by the National Biodiesel Board, the 2.1 billion gallons of biodiesel and renewable diesel used by Americans in 2015 supported 47,400 jobs and $1.9 billion in wages, and had an $8.4 billion economic impact.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=0B412278-AC0C-49D8-992A-CA979771A213"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8364268578588963, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}