WASHINGTON, D.C. (NAFB) – Rural broadband and year-round E15 bills are moving this week on Capitol Hill.

The bipartisan Year-Round Fuel Choice Act and a similar Senate bill would permanently extend the summertime waiver to ethanol blends beyond E10, clarify ambiguity in the law that led to an adverse E15 court ruling this month.

Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor.

The House bill and the Senate’s Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act attempt to clarify the law and pave the way for almost 2,500 retailers in 30-states to keep selling E15 in the summer.

A separate House bill would clarify the term “extension” to mean EPA can only grant small oil refiners ‘continuous’ ethanol waivers, thus reversing the Supreme Court’s June ruling that lapsed waivers can be extended.

Meantime, the House Ag Committee unanimously sent to the full House a $50 billion rural broadband infrastructure bill, but not before top panel Republican Glenn Thompson warned the bipartisan bill could die if mired in a politically fraught infrastructure fight.

The Broadband Internet Connections for Rural America Act would authorize eight years of funding for broadband infrastructure, mapping, technical help, distance learning and telemedicine, revamp the Broadband Reconnect Program, and join other broadband efforts, including over $900 million in the FY ’22 USDA spending bill.