WASHINGTON – North Dakota’s congressional delegation is urging the Obama administration to reverse course on proposed changes to reduce the amount of ethanol in the country’s fuel supply, the Associated Press reports.

Last November, the EPA announced that it was proposing to reduce by 3 billion gallons the amount of biofuels required to be blended into gasoline in 2014. A deadline for comments on the proposed rule change is today.

North Dakota’s delegation has spent much of the last few months pressing federal officials to reverse their proposed changes.

Last week, Senators John Hoeven (R-ND) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) signed onto a letter with 29 other senators to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, maintaining that changes would hurt farmers and small-town economies while making the U.S. more reliant on foreign oil.

"The Administration's proposal is a significant step backward — undermining the goal of increasing biofuels production as a domestic alternative to foreign oil consumption," the letter reads. "Further, the proposed waiver places at risk both the environmental benefits from ongoing development of advanced biofuels and rural America's economic future.”

North Dakota farmers have credited the 2007 Renewable Fuel Standard as ensuring high crop prices, especially for corn, as it requires oil companies to blend billions of gallons of biofuels. Many farmers fear that reducing the requirement would reduce crop prices, especially damaging after a large drop in corn prices last year.