On December 22, 2016, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) announced that the public comment period for the draft Alternatives Analysis (AA) Guide for the Safer Consumer Products (SCP) program has been extended to February 3, 2017. The guide, which was released on December 19, 2016, aims to help relevant stakeholders navigate all phases of the SCP AA process and provide useful approaches, methods, resources, tools and examples of how to fulfill SCP's regulatory...
January 6, 2017
USDA Issues A Notice of Available Funds For The Farm-To-Fleet Biofuel Production Incentive
On December 29, 2016, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) published in the Federal Register a notice of available funds regarding the Biofuel Production Incentive (BPI) for companies refining biofuel from certain domestically grown feedstocks. The notice aims to improve transparency and simplify the process of administering CCC funds to support the Farm-to-Fleet program by identifying a specific BPI payment rate. The Farm Service Agency (FSA), which...
January 6, 2017
DOE Announces Recipients Of $12.9 Million In Funding For Biofuels, Bioproducts, And Biopower Project
On December 28, 2016, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced that six projects had been selected for a funding opportunity of up to $12.9 million titled “Project Definition for Pilot- and Demonstration-Scale Manufacturing of Biofuels, Bioproducts, and Biopower.” The projects, which revolve around technology development plans for the manufacture of advanced or cellulosic biofuels, bioproducts, refinery-compatible intermediates, and biopower in a pilot- or demonstration-scale...
Last week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published two announcements in the Federal Register regarding an extension of the comment period for the proposed Renewables Enhancement and Growth Support (REGS) rule and the proposed denial of petitions for the rulemaking to change the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) Point of Obligation. On December 9, 2016, ten biodiesel and agricultural industry stakeholders, including the Renewable Fuels Association, Growth Energy, American...
January 5, 2017
White House Announces Release of Final Update to the Coordinated Framework for the Regulation of Bio
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton On January 4, 2017, the White House announced the release of the 2017 Update to the Coordinated Framework for the Regulation of Biotechnology (2017 Update). The Update to the Coordinated Framework provides a comprehensive summary of the roles and responsibilities of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) with respect to regulating biotechnology...
Lynn L. Bergeson was quoted in the December 28, 2016, Bloomberg BNA Daily Environment Report story "Biobased Chemical, Fuel Makers Seek Parity For Their Products Under Trump" (subscription required): Biobased chemical and fuel manufacturers want their products to be treated equally with their fossil fuel-based counterparts under the incoming administration's policies. [...] Lynn Bergeson, managing partner of the Washington D.C.-based Bergeson & Campbell, P.C.,...
December 23, 2016
Fuels America Sends Letter To Trump On The RFS Program
On December 15, 2016, Fuels America sent a letter to President-elect Donald Trump on behalf of the nation's renewable fuels sector encouraging Trump’s continued commitment to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) Program. Fuels America stated that the RFS Program has promoted the growth of the American biofuels industry and has helped to correct the imbalance that exists in the global oil market by ensuring competition among fuel producers, in addition to stimulating economic...
December 23, 2016
DOE Announces $8 Million In Funding For Algae-Based Biofuel Projects
On December 15, 2016, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued a funding opportunity announcement (FOA) of up to $8 million dollars, subject to appropriations, for innovative technologies that assist in the advancement of algae bioenergy and bioproducts. The FOA consists of two topic areas, including strain improvement for the development of enhanced algal strains, and algae cultivation biology improvement for the development of increased areal productivity and biofuel yield....
December 16, 2016
India Launches Biofuel-Run Bus Service
On December 5, 2016, Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) launched the Aapli bus service, India’s first green bus service, in Nagpur, which includes five buses that will run on ethanol biofuel. Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, aims for Nagpur to be the first city to have all of its buses powered by biofuel through the addition of new green buses and the conversion of existing diesel-run buses. During the launch event at Yeshwant Stadium, Gadkari...
December 16, 2016
China To Double Ethanol Production by 2020
On December 5, 2016, China's National Energy Administration (NEA) published a five-year plan that aims to increase ethanol production to four million tons by 2020 despite the government maintaining strict control over the use of food grains. The target remains unchanged from the previous five-year plan that ended in 2015. NEA intends to increase the share of non-fossil fuel consumption from 12 percent to 15 percent by 2020, in part through the vigorous development of fiber...