Congresswoman Abby Finkenauer (D-IA) on Tuesday introduced bipartisan legislation, co-sponsored by Reps. Angie Craig (D-MN), Don Bacon (R-NE), and Roger Marshall (R-KS), that would provide funding for installing and converting fuel pump infrastructure to deliver higher blends of ethanol and biodiesel.

The Clean Fuels Deployment Act of 2020 “authorizes $600 million over six years to help retailers offer higher ethanol blends, expand the geographic area selling ethanol blends, support biodiesel, bioheat, and sustainable aviation fuel markets, and accelerate the deployment of fueling infrastructure.”

National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) President Kevin Ross says, “Expanding infrastructure for higher blends will help to increase future demand for farmers and ensure biofuels will continue to be included in federal efforts to provide consumers with cleaner, affordable fuels.”

A vital market for corn farmers, ethanol producers have idled nearly half of their production capacity due to the fallout from COVID-19. Spurring new demand for higher ethanol blends will be an important part of an economic recovery for the ethanol industry and farmers, and this infrastructure deployment will help support that growth.

The legislation would also be a boost for biodiesel, according to Grant Kimberley, executive director of the Iowa Biodiesel Board and Iowa Soybean Association director of market development. “The greatest remaining barriers to widespread biodiesel adoption are at the terminal and pipeline terminal level. We support incentivizing terminals and taking other steps to help increase the market penetration of this greenhouse gas-reducing fuel,” said Kimberly.