Producers debate prospects, merits of Cantwell-Grassley biodiesel bill

In Washington, stakeholders are reacting to the merits and prospects of the Biodiesel Tax Incentive Reform and Extension Act as introduced into the Senate by Senator Cantwell of Washington state and Senator Grassley of Iowa. One NBB member told Biodiesel magazine that the switch from a blenders credit to a producers credit made no sense. “Producers who sell B100 are able to keep their books clean because they don’t file any claims with the IRS. This allows them to bill the $1 per gallon credit into their sale price and let distributors, which blend the fuel, deal with the paperwork,” according to Biodiesel’s editors.

Other producers said that payments from the government came in regularly, while John Plaza of Imperium said that it would focus the tax credit on “developing and incentivizing the producer, just as alternative energy credits incentivize the producer, and prevents gaming. The bill hits the nail right on the head.”  Meanwhile, Plaza suggested that the “sausage-making process in DC” makes it impossible to predict which of several bills the biodiesel provisions might eventually be tacked on to, but said that because the biodiesel production tax credit expires this year, it was imperative that it be extended this fall.

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