Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds has released a statement in response to Iowa and Nebraska bringing a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. At issues is the EPA's failure to issue final rules on E15. The rules would pave the way for year-round E15 access. Final rules were required to have been issued by July 2022.
Last year, eight Midwestern governors requested that the EPA change its regulations to make E-15 gas permanently available. Currently in about two-thirds of the country, the 15 percent ethanol blend cannot be sold during the summer in order to meet federal clean air standards.
In the lawsuit, the Iowa and Nebraska attorneys general claim that under the Clean Air Act, the EPA was required to act on the request within 90 days, but has not responded to it in more than a year.
Earlier this year, the EPA issued an emergency waiver allowing E-15 to be sold during the summer to address market supply issues created by the war in Ukraine.
The national oil lobby has opposed the governors’ request for a permanent change, saying it will increase gas prices at the pump.
Current regulations promulgated under the Clean Air Act apply a more stringent Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) on E-15 than E-10. RVP is the measure of how quickly fuel evaporates. E 15 is not allowed the high ozone season from June 1 to September 15 unless a waiver can be obtained.
The Sioux City Council is being asked today to approve a nearly $38 million consulting services agreement to improve Sioux City’s wastewater treatment plant. A Minneapolis environmental engineering firm has submitted the plan.
In May the council approved the third and final reading of a residential, commercial and industrial sewer rate hike to help fund a projected $470 million rebuild of the city's aging wastewater treatment plant. The city is paying for the project with a combination of funding, including the rate increase and American Rescue Plan Act dollars.
The University of Iowa is asking the Board of Regents to buy Iowa City’s Mercy Hospital. At the sticker price of $20 million dollars, they say the deal would preserve the physical hospital, its employees and services.
The prospective acquisition was announced this morning, as Mercy filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The private equity firm Preston Hollow Community Capital of Texas is asking a judge to appoint a third party to secure the nearly $42 million dollars investors have sunk into the embattled hospital. They say Mercy is in “financial freefall.”
Before any acquisition can be approved, the Board of Regents and bankruptcy court must give their approval.
Before any acquisition can be approved, the Board of Regents and bankruptcy court must give their approval. Just two years ago, the UIHC offered to buy Mercy for $605 million dollars. It was one four bidders who offered to take it over. The Cedar Rapids Gazette reported that those proposals didn’t pan out but Mercy kept the reasons confidential.
The former county attorney for Dickinson County, Iowa has had her license reinstated after it was suspended last year.
According to the Iowa Capitol Dispatch, the Iowa Supreme Court reinstated Amy Zenor’s license recently.
Zenor’s license was suspended in November 2022 after she was charged with public intoxication after showing up drunk for work at the Dickinson County Courthouse. She pleaded guilty to the charge back on March 2023. Zenor previously disputed the charge, saying during the incident she was suffering from a condition that makes her appear to be intoxicated without actually consuming alcohol.
The Iowa Capitol Dispatch article states Zenor is now prosecuting cases in Palo Alto County.
