American Petroleum Institute and NPRA sue to block NC law that would permit local retailers to blend ethanol

In North Carolina, the American Petroleum Institute and the National Petrochemical and Refiner’s Association filed suit in US District Court to overturn the North Carolina Blending Act, which requires refiners to make an unblended gasoline product available to distributors or retailers who wish to blend their own fuel and capture the $0.51 cent ethanol subsidy for themselves. Currently, the subsidy goes to refiners. In the suit, plaintiffs say that the  federal Energy Policy Act of 2005, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, the Lanham Act, and the PMPA take precedence over the North Carolina law, and that the Act  violates the Constitution by local marketers over out-of-state refiners.

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