Ethanol & Biofuels Legislation

2/8/2012 - A House panel approved a bill on February 7 that would block the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from allowing the use of a higher blend of ethanol for use in vehicles without further study.

2/8/2012 - A California bill that would end future state subsidies for corn-based ethanol has passed the state Assembly and is now in the Senate, according to the Capital Press.

2/8/2012 - An Indiana Senate bill that would have stripped state solid waste management districts of their ability to impose property taxes failed February 1, according to www.nwitimes.

2/8/2012 - “Leaked” data from the European Union (EU) on the impact of indirect land use change (ILUC) on greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions from crop-based biofuels shows that biodiesel is just as bad as or worse than petroleum-derived diesel on net GHG.

2/8/2012 - A new report released January 31 from the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) titled, Learning from the Indirect Land-Use Change Debate, outlines the current state of the indirect land-use change (ILUC) debate and what parties on both sides of the debate can stand to learn.

2/8/2012 - Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy, LLC (SIRE) has agreed to pay a US$10,150 civil penalty and spend at least $38,729 on a supplemental environmental project for failing to file a risk management plan and implement risk management regulations at its dry-mill ethanol plant in Council Bluffs, Iowa, according to a February 2 announcement by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 7.

2/8/2012 - Canadian ethanol policy has directly impacted Canadian grain markets and grain consumers like the Canadian livestock and meat industry, according to a new study from the George Morris Centre.

2/1/2012 - On January 31, the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) submitted written testimony to the Senate Finance Committee, in which the group said the U.S. biodiesel industry’s record growth and resulting job creation is at risk without immediate action from Congress to reinstate the industry’s US$1 per gallon tax incentive that expired on December 31, 2011.

1/25/2012 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is looking for applications to provide assistance to agricultural producers and rural small businesses to complete a variety of energy-efficiency and renewable-energy projects, the agency announced January 20.

1/25/2012 - The National Petrochemical & Refiners Association (NPRA), American Petroleum Institute (API) and Western States Petroleum Association jointly filed a petition on January 20 requesting that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) waive the 2011 cellulosic-biofuel volume mandate in its entirety, because it appears no cellulosic biofuel was actually produced last year.

1/25/2012 - On January 23, Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill denied the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) motion to stay the decision he issued on December 29, 2011, that had halted the enforcement of the California’s low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS) regulation because that regulation is unconstitutional.

1/25/2012 - Celanese Corp. recognized Representative Pete Olson (R-Texas) for introducing House Bill 3773 on January 17 on the floor of the United States House of Representatives. This bill would amend section 211(o) of the Clean Air Act to allow fuel blenders to use Domestic Alternative Fuel to satisfy their obligations under the federal Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS).

1/25/2012 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on January 18 launched an energy website (www.usda.gov/energy) designed to provide stakeholders fast, efficient access to the USDA energy efficiency and renewable-energy data, according to the agency.

1/18/2012 - In Washington State, two bills have been put forth that would promote increased production of organic crops and biofuel crops along the Columbia and Snake rivers.

1/18/2012 - A group of 24 climate scientists led by Drew Shindell of the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Institute for Space Studies on January 13 published an article in Science detailing more than a dozen key steps to slash greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions other than carbon dioxide (CO2).

1/11/2012 - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced in a January 5 Federal Register proposed rule that camelina-oil derived biodiesel or “renewable diesel” will be treated just like soybean-derived biodiesel for Renewable Fuel Standard-2 (RFS-2) regulatory compliance.

1/11/2012 - Although a U.S. District Court in California recently ruled that California Air Resources Board (CARB) low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS) rules illegally restrict interstate commerce, CARB nevertheless continues its work on the LCFS.

1/11/2012 - U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack highlighted the Obama administration's commitment to renewable energy on January 10 at the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument's Pearl Harbor Visitor Center. A day earlier, Vilsack presented USDA’s Blueprint for Stronger Service, a plan that helps producers continue to drive America’s economy by streamlining operations and cutting costs.

1/4/2012 - On December 31, 2011, the 45¢/gal Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC), the 54¢/gal tariff on imported ethanol as well as the US$1/gal biodiesel tax credit expired, as the U.S. Congress adjourned for the year earlier in December without passing extensions on any of the incentives.