The Renewable Fuels Association recently received $75,000 in grants to support its ethanol safety education program through on-site seminars and Internet webinars. Both grants were received through the association’s work with TRANSCAER, a voluntary national outreach effort that focuses on assisting communities to prepare for and respond to a possible hazardous material transportation incident.

“Safety is a high priority for the renewable fuels industry, and we consider it an important part of our mission to help our ethanol plants and others understand the best practices for a safe environment,” said RFA Technical Services Manager Missy Ruff. “We’re committed to ensuring that ethanol producers, shippers, blenders, and emergency response personnel can all learn more about safe handling of ethanol and responding to incidents. We appreciate the strong assistance we’ve received from TRANSCAER and our other partners in this life-saving work.”

A $25,000 grant from the Federal Railroad Administration will support 10 ethanol safety seminars and four “train the trainer” webinars for first responders, and a $50,000 Community Safety Grant from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) will fund six Ethanol & Steel Drum Safety seminars in conjunction with the Industrial Steel Drum Institute.

The four “train the trainer” webinars will take place starting in December. In addition, RFA has scheduled 10 additional ethanol safety webinars under a pre-existing grant that was renewed through August.