H.R. 875 would require the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to coordinate with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), to provide an assessment of the scientific and technical research associated with using mid-level ethanol blends (i.e., ethanol-gasoline blends containing 10 percent to 20 percent ethanol by volume) in gasoline. No later than 30 days after the assessment is completed, EPA would be required to submit a report to the Congress, indicating whether the agency agrees with the study's findings. The NAS and EPA would have 18 months from the time of enactment to complete the study. Mid-level ethanol blends could not be sold until after EPA issues its assessment report.
Section 3 of this legislation would require EPA to use $900,000 "from funds made available for science and technology" to cover the costs of the study. Whether the funds for this study were made available from amounts appropriated in 2013 or in future years, CBO estimates that implementing this legislation would cost about $1 million.
