The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) submitted comments this week to the USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) on how funding in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) for key NRCS conservation programs should be implemented to encourage farmer adoption of climate-smart practices. ACE CEO Brian Jennings and Jonathon Lehman, founder of the consulting group Cultivating Conservation, provided comments to NRCS, …
Year Round E15 Legislation Introduced in the House
This has been a busy week for actions to get a permanent fix for year-hour E15. In the latest, U.S. Representatives Angie Craig (D-MN) and Adrian Smith (R-NE) introduced the Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act of 2022 to enable the year-round, nationwide sale of ethanol blends higher than 10%. The Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act of 2022 would …
250 Groups Call for Senate Passage of Year-Round E15 Bill
Over 250 organizations and companies signed a letter to Congressional leaders this week calling for quick passage of S. 5145, the Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act of 2022, a bipartisan bill that allows for year-round of E15 by extending the 1-psi Reid vapor pressure (RVP) waiver to fuel blends containing gasoline and over 10 percent ethanol. “Due to the …
Biofuels Industry Provides Input on IRA for IRS
Biofuel stakeholder organizations provided input this week to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on implementation of specific provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) related to credits for carbon sequestration and clean fuel production. In its comments to the IRS, the Renewable Fuels Association stressed that, if implemented correctly, the Clean Fuel Production Credit (45Z) could lead to “transformative investments” …
Ethanol Industry Relieved Rail Strike Averted
Since more than 70 percent of the ethanol produced in the United States is transported by rail across the lower 48 states as well as into Canada and Mexico, the industry breathed a collective sigh of relief Friday as President Biden signed legislation passed by Congress to avert a major national rail strike. Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper …
EPA Proposes RFS Biofuel Standards for Three Years
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published its proposed rule to establish required Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) volumes and percentage standards for 2023, 2024, and 2025, as well as to propose a series of important modifications to strengthen and expand the RFS program. The proposal sets next year’s (2023) total RFS requirement at 20.82 billion gallons, including 5.82 billion in …
ACE Provides Feedback on IRA Biofuel Infrastructure Funds
In written comments submitted this week, American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) Chief Marketing Officer Ron Lamberty provided expert feedback with the Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBCS) and the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) on implementation of funds for biofuel infrastructure under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The legislation provides for $500 million in grants for infrastructure for blending, storing, supplying, or distributing …
Year-Round E15 Legislation Introduced with Diverse Support
Legislation to allow year-round, nationwide sales of ethanol blends higher than 10 percent was introduced in the U.S. Senate Tuesday by Senators Deb Fischer (R-NE) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), with an additional 13 bipartisan co-sponsors. The Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act of 2022 would increase the availability of biofuels like E15 and would also end years of regulatory uncertainty …
ACE Helps Retailers with Higher Blend Infrastructure Funding
The latest round of USDA’s Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program (HBIIP) closed this week. HBIIP provides $100 million in grants to pay up to 50 percent of the cost of equipment for station owners to add or upgrade equipment and sell higher ethanol blends like E15 and E85. It is separate from the $500 million provided in the Inflation Reduction …
Biofuel Groups Praise EPA Reversal of Refinery Exemptions
The Renewable Fuels Association, Growth Energy, the American Coalition for Ethanol and National Farmers Union this week filed a motion to intervene in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in support of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to deny 69 petitions from refineries seeking small refinery exemptions (SREs) from the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program for one or more …