Grassley and Klobuchar introduce bill to support biofuel producers

May 20, 2020 |

In Washington, Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) introduced legislation to support biofuel producers negatively affected by the pandemic. This legislation will require the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to reimburse biofuel producers for their feedstock purchases from January 1, 2020 through March 31, 2020 through the Commodity Credit Corporation.

As the coronavirus pandemic spread, gasoline use in the United States plummeted to 50-year lows around the country. From March 8th to April 4th of this year, the total miles driven dropped by 58 percent. This rapid decrease in consumption has led more than 130 biofuel plants to partially or fully shut down. Forty percent of Iowa ethanol production remains offline still today.

Grassley initially pushed for this proposal as an amendment in the CARES Act to match the proposed funding for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. When assistance for the oil industry was not included in the package, neither was the Grassley biofuel amendment. However, there have since been purchases for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve through administrative action. Grassley and Klobuchar continued to hear from their constituents and members of the biofuel industry and introduced this as separate legislation.

Category: Policy

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