Iowa renewable fuel interest groups speak to congressional leaders about pressing issues within the biodiesel industry.
The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) and Iowa Biodiesel Board (IBB) spoke to congressional leaders on Capitol Hill Tuesday. The interest groups? conversations were fixated on the biodiesel tax credit and growing Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) volumes.
IRFA Executive Director Monte Shaw said biodiesel has skyrocketed since the tax credit was first implemented, from 100 million gallons in 2005 to nearly 2.9 billion gallons at the end of last year.
?Unfortunately, Congress has allowed this successful tax incentive to expire,? Shaw said. ?Yesterday we thanked Iowa?s delegation for their strong support in reinstating and reforming the biodiesel tax credit in order to boost domestic energy and quality jobs.?
Bills have been presented to both the U.S. House and Senate, in an effort to reinstate the biodiesel tax credit and reform it from a blenders credit to a producer?s credit. The tax reform would fix a loophole where foreign biodiesel producers can take advantage of the credit at the expense of U.S. taxpayers for merely blending their biodiesel with petroleum in the U.S, according to the IRFA.
IBB Executive Director Grant Kimberley said both the tax incentive and RFS are examples of successful bipartisan polices that make sense.
?Extending and reforming the tax credit will help realign it to work as Congress intended, supporting American jobs and products, while reducing reliance on other countries for our vital fuel supply,? Kimberley said.
The biodiesel tax reform is estimated to support nearly 82,000 U.S. jobs and $14.7 billion in economic activity. Other conversations centered on trade case issues with Argentina and Indonesia. Kimberley said the two countries embrace a differential export tax.
?The tax gives a huge advantage to the biodiesel industry, in those countries, where they can sell those products well under the market,? Kimberley said. ?There is a case the Department of Commerce is looking at right now, and we?ll hear more by the end of this fall (as to) the merits of whether or not there might be some duties or anti-dumping tariffs put in place.?
