Virginia becomes eighth state to call for ethanol mandate waiver

Governor Bob McDonnell of Virginia has petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to grant a waiver from the ethanol quotas mandated by the federal Renewable Fuels Standard, making Virginia the eighth state to do so.
In a show of support, the National Chicken Council, National Turkey Federation and the Virginia Poultry Federation offered their praise for McDonnell’s petition. “I thank Governor McDonnell for his efforts to provide relief for Virginia’s chicken farmers and processors who have and continue to experience severe economic harm as a direct result of the federal ethanol mandate,” said National Chicken Council President Mike Brown. “Congress gave the EPA administrator the authority to act in a situation such as this to prevent a bad situation from becoming worse."
Texas, Georgia, New Mexico, Arkansas, North Carolina, Maryland and Delaware have also filed petitions. Other requests to waive the standard include calls to action from 156 U.S. House members, 34 U.S. Senators, poultry and livestock producers and the United Nations.