On Tuesday, Governor Kim Reynolds signed the first-in-the-nation law that would require gas stations to sell E15.

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The bill was a top priority for Reynolds when she introduced it earlier this year and was met with bipartisan support.

This historic bill makes Iowa the first state in the nation to adopt an E15 standard, setting the stage for the single largest expansion of biofuels in our state's history.

via Iowa Governors Office
via Iowa Governors Office
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Reynolds signed the bill into law at a Prairie City farm. Representatives of the biofuel industry, and farm groups attended the event.

Biofuels account for $4 billion of Iowa's GDP and supports tens of thousands of jobs in our state. It powers our economy and fuels the world and this position of global leadership means this reverberates far beyond our borders.

The bill also referred to as the Renewable Fuels Standards, was initially proposed last year but never made it through the session. Back in February, an adjusted version passed through the House. The final version allows 30 percent of smaller stations to opt out of the requirement passed through the Senate.

 The final product is truly a tstament to the idea that good faith discussion, negotiation and compromise can pay off in a big way.

Stations that are exempt from the requirement must be a fuel site before January 1, 2023, sold no more than 300,000 gallons of gas on average annually from 2020 to 2022, and don’t replace their tanks.

Will Connon a district director in the Iowa Corn Growers Association, hosted the event on the century farm that he has been growing crops for the last 20 years on. He says that the ethanol market has helped him get good prices which allow him to continue farming.

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