Minnesota Is A Mandatory Ethanol State

Minnesota Does NOT Require Pump Labeling

Leading the nation, Minnesota was the first state to implement a mandatory E10 law. The latest version of the Minnesota law is defined by Statute 239.792, which was enacted in 2007. It is actually pushing for E20 and above in the near future, but it depends on if the car manufacturers will warrant their vehicles for greater than 10% ethanol; currently no manufacturers do.

The exemptions are quite complete and can be found in Subd. 10 - 15, and include aircraft, watercraft, motor sport racing, collector vehicles and off road use, motorcycles, 2 cycle and small engines, etc. The law does not guarantee the availability of unblended gasoline, which must be premium unleaded and it only allows retail dealers to supply it if they follow very strict guidelines. However, it will all mean nothing by 2012 when the unintended consequences of EISA 2007 take every drop of gasoline in the U.S. E10.

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Prohibit Ethanol Blending In All Premium Unleaded Gasoline

Every mandatory E10 state has exemptions to their blending law, because there are a number of piston engine applications that should not, and some that cannot, use ethanol blended gasoline. Unfortunately the exemptions are not uniform. They vary from only one exemption in Washington, aircraft, to a universal exemption of premium unleaded in Missouri. All states exempt aircraft usage, but most states like Oregon and Washington make it almost impossible to get unblended gasoline. Oregon is the only state that allows for unblended regular and premium gasoline for the exemptions, and then makes it almost impossible to get any unblended gasoline. All other mandatory ethanol states just allow clear premium unleaded gasoline for the exempted classes.

The following piston engine applications should not use ethanol blended gasoline:

• Any 2 cycle engine used in tools, watercraft, snowmobiles, etc., or small 4 cycle engines.
• Any engines used in an emergency stationary engine application like a generator or a pump, especially in a humid climate.
• All watercraft. Ethanol blended gasoline should never be used in a marine environment.
• Antique and classic cars and classic motorcycles.
• All aircraft.

All of these users must be able to get ethanol free (E0) gasoline. If you live in a state without a mandatory ethanol blending law, you have no exemptions, ethanol will eventually be blended into all of your unleaded gasoline and there is no requirement in EISA 2007 to label gas pumps with ethanol content.

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