US EPA says more testing needed on ethanol blends

WASHINGTON, June 17 (Reuters) - U.S. environmental regulators said on Thursday they hope to make a decision on higher ethanol blends by the fall, a month or two later than had been expected.

The Environmental Protection Agency also said it expects the Department of Energy to complete testing on higher blends on cars build after 2007 by the end of September. The tests had been expected to be completed later this month or a bit later.

"While results from the tests conducted to-date look good, EPA will not make a final decision until DOE completes its current comprehensive testing of the newer vehicles," EPA said.

(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by David Gregorio)