US EPA monitoring effect of Midwest floods on ethanol

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Environmental Protection Agency is monitoring the effect flooding in the Midwest may have on the federal renewable fuel standard, an agency official said on Thursday.

The EPA has not fully determined the effect the floods will have on the corn-based ethanol mandate, which requires blending 9 billion gallons of ethanol in the nation's fuel supply this year, Robert Meyers, the agency's principal deputy assistant administrator, said in testimony to the Senate.

The agency is currently considering a request by Gov. Rick Perry of Texas to cut the mandate by half this year.

(Reporting by Ayesha Rascoe; Editing by Walter Bagley)

(ayesha.rascoe@thomsonreuters.com)