B&C® Biobased and Sustainable Chemicals Blog

Biobased and Renewable Products Advocacy Group (BRAG®) member Elevance Renewable Sciences, Inc. (Elevance) was named a 2015 New Energy Pioneer award winner by Bloomberg New Energy Finance on April 13, 2015. Elevance CEO K'Lynne Johnson accepted the award on behalf of the company. Bloomberg New Energy Finance recognized Elevance and nine other companies as revolutionizing the energy sector in potential scale, innovation, and momentum. Elevance's recent introductions include the...

On April 1, 2015, the Governor of Ohio, John Kasich (R), signed the 2016-2017 Transportation Budget Bill (Sub. H.B. 53). The state transportation budget does not include a requirement on alternative fuel use in the state vehicle fleet, a requirement that had been in place since 2006. Ohio Department of Transportation's Matt Bruning stated that the requirement mandated the state increase the amount of alternative fuels each year with no cap in place, resulting in higher costs for the state,...

On April 9, 2015, the Pentagon released the Rocky Mountain/West Coast/Offshore Bulk Fuels Annual Buy (RMW) solicitation for biofuels on the FedBizOpps website. This purchase program supports the goal set by the Secretary of the Navy to have half of the Department of the Navy's energy come from alternative sources by 2020. Funding to defray additional biofuel costs for the RMW program is provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture through the Commodity Credit Corporation. Vendors can...

On April 14, 2015, the U.S. House of Representatives' Energy & Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy held a hearing on the TSCA Modernization Act of 2015 discussion draft (TMA-DD). An analysis of the April 7, 2015, TMA-DD is available on the Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) website. The April 14, 2015, witnesses' testimonies are posted on the Energy & Commerce Committee website.

On April 10, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lodged with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia a proposed consent decree to resolve litigation challenging the delay in issuing Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS) for 2014 and 2015 brought by the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) against EPA. The consent decree would establish EPA's schedule for issuing a RFS for 2014 and 2015. In its filing, EPA stated that...

On April 3, 2015, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) held a Public Workshop to discuss updates to the California-Modified Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Transportation (CA-GREET) Model, version 2.0, under the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS). The update includes improved formulas to calculate Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC), and an updated model for calculating lifecycle Carbon Intensity (CI) values that is based on Argonne National Laboratory's GREET model....

On March 26, 2015, Senators Rand Paul (R-KY) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) introduced S. 899, the Fuel Choice and Deregulation Act of 2015, a bill to provide regulatory relief to alternative fuel producers and consumers. The bill would require EPA to provide a volatility waiver to E15, allowing the higher ethanol blend to be sold year round. Fuels have volatility limits in the summer to prevent excess evaporation that results in smog. Some areas cannot obtain the lower-volatility gas that would be...

On March 26, 2015, Representative Todd Young (R-IN) introduced H.R. 1665, the Alternative Fuel Tax Parity Act, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to equalize the excise tax on liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (propane). This legislation would attach federal tax parities for LNG and propane to the Alternative Fuel Tax Credit (AFTC) that currently covers alternative fuel mixtures, alcohol fuel, and biodiesel. The AFTC has expired and is awaiting renewal. If H.R. 1665...

On April 7, 2015, the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Energy and Commerce announced that the Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy will hold a legislative hearing on a new discussion draft of the TSCA [Toxic Substances Control Act] Modernization Act, released by Committee Chair John Shimkus (R-IL) the same day -- April 7, 2015. The hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, April 14, 2015, at 10:15 a.m. (EDT) in Room 2322 of the Rayburn House Office Building. U.S. Environmental...

On March 26, 2015, a group of ethanol and agricultural groups sent a letter (the industry letter) to the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies to express their strong opposition to including certain language harmful to the ethanol industry in the Fiscal Year 2016 Agriculture, Rural Development, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Related Programs Appropriations bill....