USDA Announces Funding Availability For Advanced Biofuels

On October 21, 2013, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued a press release announcing the availability of $181 million in funding under the Biorefinery Assistance Program (BAP) to support the development of commercial-scale biorefineries or the retrofitting of existing biorefineries to produce advanced biofuels from non-food sources. The BAP was created under the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 (the 2008 Farm Bill) and is administered by USDA Rural Development. It provides loan guarantees to viable commercial-scale facilities to develop new and emerging technologies for advanced biofuels. To date, the program has provided approximately $684 million to support biofuels projects in eight states. USDA's press release is available online.

Applications for funding are due to USDA by January 30, 2014. Additional information on how to apply may be found online.

This announcement comes at a time when the 2008 Farm Bill was allowed to expire on September 30, and a House and Senate conference committee recently initiated work to develop a final Farm Bill that may be voted on by Congress and signed into law by President Obama. Upon the end of the government shutdown last week, President Obama publicly stressed the importance of passing a new Farm Bill this year.