Ethanol labeling bill postponed

A bill that would eliminate a requirement to label pumps containing ethanol gasoline was laid over April 13.

Current law requires the labeling of gas pumps providing fuels with ethanol or methanol concentrations of 1 percent or more.

LB698, introduced by Imperial Sen. Mark Christensen, originally would have ended the requirement altogether but was amended during general file debate to increase the labeling threshold to pumps containing 11 percent ethanol or methanol.

The bill met a filibuster on select file April 13.

Christensen said gasoline containing 10 percent ethanol comprised 85 percent of fuel sales in the state last December so the ethanol distinction is no longer necessary.

Holdrege Sen. Tom Carlson supported the bill, saying it would help support Nebraska’s agriculture industry by promoting the use of ethanol. The bill would not prevent a gas station from labeling pumps, he said, so owners still could label them if they get requests from customers to do so.

Omaha Sen. Scott Lautenbaugh said both people who use ethanol and those who avoid the additive support labeling because it lets them know if ethanol is in the fuel they purchase. Further, the current labeling requirement has not prevented ethanol from achieving great market penetration, he said.

Wilber Sen. Russ Karpisek also opposed the bill. Removing the labeling requirement could be perceived as an underhanded way to increase sales of ethanol-blended fuels, he said.

“Let’s not hide what is in our gas,” Karpisek said.

Carlson offered an amendment he later withdrew to instead require the labeling of nonethanol fuels and Lautenbaugh offered a motion to bracket the bill until the last scheduled day of the session. Christensen then filed a motion to indefinitely postpone the bill and elected to lay over LB698 until next session.