The National Council of Chain Restaurants (NCCR) – in support of the governors of Arkansas and North Carolina – recently urged the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to waive the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) mandate for corn-based ethanol.

Here are a few notable quotations from the NCCR letter:

“We believe current circumstances resulting from the nation’s severe drought are precisely of the kind that Congress envisioned warranting a waiver under the law that created the RFS. The economic damage wrought by the drought is exacerbated by the additional, artificial demand the RFS creates for corn.”

“As the price for corn and other grains has risen in tandem with the RFS, the price of nearly all food commodities has risen as well. Not only have these higher food prices affected the grocery bills of every American consumer; they have also impacted other stakeholders in the U.S. food system. As major purchasers of a wide range of agricultural commodities, chain restaurant companies have faced higher input costs.”

“We believe the current and 2013 corn ethanol mandates are unjustified given current drought conditions and the severe economic damage that has been suffered by animal agriculture producers, all other non-corn agricultural growers, and major stakeholders in the U.S. food system including the chain restaurant industry.”

“We urge the Administrator to exercise the authority granted by Congress in Section 211(o)(7) of the Clean Air Act to waive, either fully or by a percentage that will be sufficient to have a meaningful impact, as determined by credible, independent analysis, the RFS corn ethanol mandate as requested by the governors of Arkansas and North Carolina.”