(June 1, 2011) Washington - The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) and the San Joaquin Valley Clean Cities Coalition will be co-hosting an Ethanol Safety Seminar in Stockton, CA at the San Joaquin Delta College on June 6, 2011. This seminar is free. Attendees will receive in depth information on proper training techniques that first responders and hazmat personnel need to effectively respond to an ethanol related emergency. While primarily targeting first responders, hazmat teams, safety managers, and local emergency planning committees, it is also open to the general public.

Ethanol production, transportation, and use are increasing year after year. As this domestically grown fuel accounts for 10% of our country’s fuel supply, it is inevitable that first responders will come in contact with ethanol one way or another. It is important that those responsible for safety in their communities are well prepared and trained for responding to ethanol related emergencies. To accommodate schedules and reach as many participants as possible, the Ethanol Safety Seminar will feature a morning session from 9:00am-2:00pm and an evening session from 5:30pm-10:00pm. Certificates of participation will be distributed following the completion of the seminar. Lunch and dinner will be sponsored by Pacific Ethanol. There will also be an ethanol plant tour at the Pacific Ethanol facility between the two sessions.

“California is using 1.3 billion gallons of ethanol a year thanks to facilities like Pacific Ethanol located in Stockton. Pacific Ethanol alone is producing, storing and transporting 60 million gallons of ethanol a year,” said Robert White, RFA Director of Market Development. “With this amount of ethanol being produced and consumed in the state, first responders and hazmat teams should be familiar with the plant facility and well informed on ethanol fuel so they are able to appropriately respond to a related emergency.”

The goal of this seminar is for attendees to gain full ethanol emergency response training experience that they can put to use immediately in the field as well as pass along to other first response teams. A majority of this training is based on the Complete Training Guide to Ethanol Emergency Response, a training package created by the Ethanol Emergency Response Coalition (EERC) that has been distributed throughout the United States and to several countries worldwide.

The Ethanol Safety Seminar focuses on numerous important areas of ethanol safety including an introduction to ethanol and ethanol blended fuels, chemical and physical characteristics of ethanol and hydrocarbon fuels, transportation of ethanol blended fuels, storage and dispensing locations, firefighting foam principles and ethanol, ethanol blended fuel emergencies, and incidents at tank farm and bulk storage locations.

For more information and to register, visit www.rfa.traincaster.com.

About the RFA: The Renewable Fuels Association is the leading trade association for America’s ethanol industry. Its mission is to advance the development, production, and use of ethanol fuel by strengthening America’s ethanol industry and raising awareness about the benefits of renewable fuels. RFA’s 200 members are working to help America become cleaner, safer, more energy independent and economically secure. Visit www.EthanolRFA.org.

Clean Cities Program: Clean Cities was formed in 1993 in response to the Energy Policy Act of 1992. They are a government-industry partnership sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Vehicle Technologies Program. They have nearly 100 coalitions nationwide and more than 8,400 stakeholders, Clean Cities' mission is to reduce petroleum consumption in the transportation sector. For more information, visit www1.eere.energy.gov/cleancities/.