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CIVIC HERALD
HR 1346 · 119th CongressIn committee

Nationwide Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act of 2025

To amend the Clean Air Act with respect to the ethanol waiver for Reid Vapor Pressure under that Act, and for other purposes.

In plain language: This bill allows gas stations nationwide to sell gasoline containing up to 15% ethanol (E15) year-round by lifting summertime vapor restrictions on higher-ethanol blends, and it directs regulators to update pump labeling and storage tank rules. Starting in 2028, it replaces case-by-case hardship exemptions for small oil refineries with an automatic 75% reduction in their federal biofuel blending mandates, without shifting those blending burdens onto other refiners. It also returns past compliance credits to certain small refineries and creates a tightly capped, publicly disclosed emergency waiver for facilities facing imminent closure due to compliance costs.

Provisional: our plain-language summary, pending review.

Provisionalunreviewed: impact, provisions, stakeholders, summary
People affected—The text regulates fuel refiners, blenders, and fuel retail infrastructure; it does not define or quantify a specific population count.
Fiscal magnitude—CBO cost estimate published (H.R. 1346, Nationwide Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act of 2025, 2026-05-12); dollar figure pending review extraction — see receipt
Reach62provisional · pending reviewrigor: heuristic llm
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Issues

What this bill touches.

Pollution & development−50Federal vs. state/local+50Energy sourcesFarm policy & subsidiesEthics & oversight+12

The sign shows the bill's direction on each issue (+ toward, − away); the number is its magnitude. Color never encodes good or bad, and never party.

Who it affects

Who it helps · who it burdens.

Who it helps

  • E15 fuel producers, blenders, and retailersGains year-round market access to sell 10 to 15 percent ethanol blends (E15) under extended Reid Vapor Pressure volatility limits, superseding certain state-level limitations.provisional
  • Small refining companies (producing up to 75,000 barrels per day)Receives a 75 percent statutory reduction in Renewable Fuel Standard blending compliance requirements starting in calendar year 2028 (Sec. 1(c)(1)(C)).provisional
  • Small refineries with prior hardship petitionsReceives restored or credited compliance credits in their EPA accounts for retired credits linked to unresolved or denied hardship petitions from 2016 through 2018 (Sec. 1(d)).provisional
  • Large oil refiners and fuel importersProtected from having the waived renewable fuel blending obligations of small refineries reallocated onto their own compliance targets starting in 2028 (Sec. 1(e)).provisional

Who it burdens

  • Small refineries seeking traditional hardship exemptionsLoses the ability to file for traditional small refinery hardship exemptions for compliance years after 2027, as EPA enforcement of that exemption program ends in 2028 (Sec. 1(c)(1)(A)).provisional
  • Qualifying small refineries applying for emergency exemptionsRequired to publicly disclose all petition contents and financial/operational data, with statutory loss of confidential business information protections, when applying for emergency exemptions starting in 2028 (Sec. 1(g)).provisional
  • Environmental Protection AgencyMust issue updated regulations on E15 pump labeling and underground storage tank compatibility within 18 months, restore historical compliance credits, and administer the new emergency exemption system (Sec. 1(d), Sec. 1(f), Sec. 1(g)).provisional

Dollar-level funding (FEC sector totals) is coming in a later phase.

What it does

The provisions, in plain language.

  1. Extends the Reid Vapor Pressure volatility allowance to gasoline blends containing up to 15 percent ethanol (E15), permitting year-round sales and superseding state-level restrictions requested between 2022 and enactment.

    Sec. 1(a)(2)provisional

  2. Phases out the existing small refinery hardship exemption program under the Renewable Fuel Standard, barring new petitions for compliance years after 2027 and ending EPA enforcement of existing exemptions starting in 2028.

    Sec. 1(c)(1)(A)provisional

  3. Reduces annual Renewable Fuel Standard blending requirements by 75 percent starting in 2028 for small refining companies that produced 75,000 barrels per day or less in 2025, unless their production subsequently exceeds that cap.

    Sec. 1(c)(1)(C)provisional

  4. Prohibits EPA from reallocating the exempted renewable fuel blending volumes from small refining companies onto other refiners or fuel importers starting in 2028.

    Sec. 1(e)provisional

  5. Directs EPA within 18 months to issue updated regulations for selling and distributing E15 fuel blends, including revised gas pump labeling and underground fuel storage tank compatibility requirements.

    Sec. 1(f)provisional

  6. Establishes a new emergency exemption process starting in 2028 for qualifying small refineries facing imminent shutdown or conversion solely due to compliance costs, subject to mandatory public disclosure of petitions and a nationwide annual volume cap.

    Sec. 1(g)provisional

How your members of Congress line up

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Timeline

How it moved.

  1. May 14, 2026Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
  2. May 13, 2026Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  3. May 13, 2026On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 218 - 203 (Roll no. 164). (text of amendment in the nature of a substitute: CR H3421-3422)
  4. May 13, 2026Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 218 - 203 (Roll no. 164). (text of amendment in the nature of a substitute: CR H3421-3422)
  5. May 13, 2026On motion to recommit Failed by the Yeas and Nays: 112 - 309 (Roll no. 163).
  6. Apr 29, 2026Rule H. Res. 1224 passed House.
  7. Apr 29, 2026Rules Committee Resolution H. Res. 1224 Reported to House. Rule provides for consideration of H.R. 7567, H.R. 2616, S. Con. Res. 33, S. 1318 and H.R. 1346. The resolution provides for consideration of H.R. 7567 under a structured rule and H.R. 2616, S. Con. Res. 33, S. 1318, and H.R. 1346 under a closed rule, with one hour of general debate on each measure. The resolution provides for one motion to recommit on H.R. 7567, H.R. 2616, and H.R. 1346, and one motion to commit on S. 1318.
  8. Feb 13, 2025Introduced in House
  9. Feb 13, 2025Introduced in House

The original text

Read it for yourself.

Read the original text →

Sources & provenance

Congress.govrefreshed 25 days ago

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