National Marine Manufacturers Association Appeals E15 Ruling

The National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to request a review of a recent ruling on E15. NMMA legislative director Jim Currie told Soundings Trade Only that the group had moved this week to ask the court to reconsider an August 2012 ruling.

“We are also reaching out to environmental groups and world hunger groups to come on board” with the NMMA’s effort to get the courts to review the decision, which allows gasoline with as much as 15 percent ethanol to be sold at pumps, Currie said.

Several groups already have joined the NMMA in its opposition to the higher concentration of ethanol in gasoline. In August, a 3-member panel of judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit dismissed the marine industry’s challenge to allowing E15 into the fuel supply.

The 2-1 decision was disappointing, but was procedural, Cindy Squires, the NMMA’s chief counsel of public affairs and director of regulatory affairs, told Soundings Trade Only in August.

Two judges said the plaintiffs did not have grounds to bring a case based on court precedents and therefore could not consider the merits of the arguments presented. The dissenting judge said the Environmental Protection Agency had clearly overstepped its authority.

The NMMA now has requested an en banc review, which means it is asking that all of the judges of the D.C. Circuit Court rule on the case, creating a chance to change case law and review the plaintiffs’ arguments on the merits.

Source: Soundings Trade Only