The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced higher proposed levels of ethanol for 2019, which could lead to increases in the number of stations selling fuel blends containing more than 10 percent ethanol by volume.

The 2019 renewable volume obligations announced in June call for 19.88 billion gallons of ethanol to be blended into the nation’s vehicle fuel supply in 2019, up 3 percent from the 19.29 billion gallons mandated for 2018.

All of the proposed increase is in advanced biofuels—those made from non-food sources—while the amount of ethanol derived mainly from corn remains flat at 15 billion gallons.

The AMA opposes any increase in the amount of ethanol the government mandates for U.S. vehicle fuels, because none of the estimated 22 million motorcycles and ATVs currently in use are approved by the EPA to use fuels containing more than 10 percent ethanol by volume.

The AMA also fears that higher-ethanol blends, such as E15 will begin to push ethanol-free and E10 fuel out of the marketplace, much the way E10 has marginalized E0.