Udall, Welch introduce legislation to reform RFS and boost mandate for advanced biofuels

November 24, 2019 |

In California, U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representative Peter Welch (D-Vt.) introduced companion bills in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives to reform the Renewable Fuel Standard by mitigating harmful environmental impacts of the corn ethanol mandate and advancing the next generation of biofuels that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The GREENER Fuels Act (Growing Renewable Energy through Existing and New Environmentally Responsible Fuels Act) would phase out the corn ethanol mandate and immediately reduce the amount of ethanol in fuel by as much as 1 billion gallons by capping the amount of ethanol that can be blended into conventional gasoline at 9.7 percent. After thirteen years of increasing mandates, corn ethanol is now a mature technology, but one that has contributed to habitat loss and greater water pollution from pesticides and fertilizers.

The bill would help farmers return cornfields to pasture and wildlife habitat through a 10 cents per RIN fee to fund a new Private Land Protection and Restoration Fund in the U.S. Treasury. The fund will help pay for Department of Interior programs that:

  • Pay for easements on private lands to keep them out of agricultural production;
  • Keep the lands in conservation uses like grass, forest, stream buffers, or pollinator habitat and;
  • Help farmers transition land currently in crop production into other uses.

The GREENER Fuels Act also extends the cellulosic and advanced next generation biofuel mandate until 2 billion gallons of annual production is achieved or 2037, whichever is soonest, and improve the way the mandate is implemented to produce liquid transportation fuels that dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Category: Policy

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