[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2271 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2271
To amend the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to provide
grants for eligible entities for activities designed to expand the
sales and use of biofuels derived from agricultural feedstocks produced
in the United States, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 24, 2021
Ms. Klobuchar (for herself and Ms. Ernst) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to provide
grants for eligible entities for activities designed to expand the
sales and use of biofuels derived from agricultural feedstocks produced
in the United States, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Biofuel Infrastructure and
Agricultural Product Market Expansion Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR EXPANDING DOMESTIC BIOFUEL CONSUMPTION.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) Biofuels are an immediately available path toward
decarbonizing the transportation sector while driving rural
economic development and growth, stabilizing feedstock prices,
and providing additional markets for agricultural products.
(2) United States farmers are producing record amounts of
feedstock for renewable fuels, but market disruptions and
fluctuations due to the COVID-19 pandemic have created
uncertain times for United States feedstock producers.
(3) Biofuels, which contribute to energy security, reduce
air pollution, and support rural economic development, are an
important market for United States feedstock producers.
(4) According to the Alternative Fuels Data Center of the
Department of Energy, 39 percent of the United States corn crop
was refined into ethanol in 2019.
(5) According to the Energy Information Administration, 30
percent of United States soybean oil was used for biodiesel
production in 2019.
(6) Higher blends of biofuels like E15 and B20 are
dispensed using blender pumps or dedicated E15 and B20 pumps.
(7) Infrastructure constraints and other barriers currently
limit the market for biofuels and the feedstocks used to
produce biofuels.
(b) Biofuel Infrastructure and Agricultural Product Market
Expansion Grant Program.--Title IX of the Farm Security and Rural
Investment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8101 et seq.) is amended by adding at
the end the following:
``SEC. 9015. BIOFUEL INFRASTRUCTURE AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCT MARKET
EXPANSION GRANT PROGRAM.
``(a) Definition of Eligible Entity.--In this section, the term
`eligible entity' means--
``(1) a State or unit of local government;
``(2) a Tribal government;
``(3) an authority, agency, partnership, or instrumentality
of an entity described in paragraph (1) or (2); and
``(4) a group of entities described in paragraphs (1)
through (3).
``(b) Establishment.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this section, the Secretary shall establish a grant
program to award grants to eligible entities to carry out the
activities described in subsection (f).
``(c) Purpose.--The purposes of the grant program established under
subsection (b) shall be--
``(1) to increase the use of domestic agricultural crops by
expanding or aiding in the expansion of domestic biofuel
markets;
``(2) to aid in the development of new and additional
biofuel markets, marketing facilities, and uses for feedstock
derived from agricultural crops and other biomass;
``(3) to stabilize prices in agricultural markets by
increasing demand for feedstock derived from agricultural
crops;
``(4) to boost domestic production and use of biofuels to
promote rural economic development and job creation; and
``(5) to support farm income by increasing demand for
feedstock use and production.
``(d) Applications.--An eligible entity desiring a grant under this
section shall submit to the Secretary an application at the time, in
the manner, and containing the information that the Secretary may
require.
``(e) Eligibility Criteria.--In selecting an eligible entity to
receive a grant under this section, the Secretary shall consider the
extent to which the application of the eligible entity proposes--
``(1) to convert existing pump infrastructure to deliver
ethanol blends with greater than 10 percent ethanol;
``(2) to diversify the geographic area selling ethanol
blends with greater than 10 percent ethanol;
``(3) to support existing or emerging biodiesel, bioheat,
and sustainable aviation fuel markets that have existing
incentives;
``(4) to increase the use of existing fuel delivery
infrastructure;
``(5) to enable or accelerate the deployment of renewable
fuel infrastructure that would be unlikely to be completed
without Federal assistance; and
``(6) to build and retrofit traditional and pipeline
biodiesel terminal operations (including rail lines) and home
heating oil distribution centers or equivalent entities--
``(A) to blend biodiesel; and
``(B) to carry ethanol and biodiesel.
``(f) Eligible Use.--An eligible entity that receives a grant under
this section may use the grant funds--
``(1) to distribute to private or public entities for costs
related to incentivizing deployment of renewable fuel
infrastructure;
``(2) to convert existing pump infrastructure to deliver
ethanol blends greater than 10 percent and biodiesel blends
greater than 20 percent;
``(3) to install fuel pumps and related infrastructure
dedicated to the distribution of higher ethanol blends
(including E15 and E85) and higher biodiesel blends up to B100
at fueling locations, including--
``(A) local fueling stations;
``(B) convenience stores;
``(C) hypermarket fueling stations; and
``(D) fleet facilities or similar entities; and
``(4) to build and retrofit traditional and pipeline
biodiesel terminal operations (including rail lines) and home
heating oil distribution centers or equivalent entities--
``(A) to blend biodiesel; and
``(B) to carry ethanol and biodiesel.
``(g) Certification Requirement.--Any infrastructure used or
installed with grant funds provided under this section shall be
certified by the Underwriters Laboratory as infrastructure that
distributes blends with an ethanol content of 25 percent or greater.
``(h) Funding.--
``(1) Federal share.--The Federal share of the total cost
of carrying out a project awarded a grant under this section
shall not exceed 75 percent.
``(2) Maximum percentage for certain activities.--An
eligible entity receiving a grant under this section shall
ensure that Federal funds do not exceed--
``(A) 75 percent of the per pump cost for--
``(i) pumps that can dispense a range of
ethanol blends of E85 or lower (new pumps or
retrofit of existing pumps); and
``(ii) dedicated E15 or E85 pumps (new
pumps or retrofit of existing pumps);
``(B) 50 percent of the terminal cost for terminals
with B100 capabilities; or
``(C) 40 percent of the per tank cost for new
storage tanks and related equipment associated with new
facilities or additional capacity other than
replacement of existing storage tanks and related
equipment associated with existing facilities.
``(i) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section $100,000,000
for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2030.''.
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