Biodiesel Specific Provisions:

CCC Bioenergy Program:
The Farm Bill reauthorizes the CCC Bioenergy Program. The program provides support to, among others, biodiesel producers to help offset feedstock costs. Specifically, the program:

• Provides $300 million in mandatory funding for the program over the 5 year duration of the Farm Bill. In addition, the legislation authorizes an additional $25 million in funding each year from FY 2009 through FY 2012, subject to Congress providing this additional funding during the course of the annual appropriations process.
• Ethanol produced from corn would not qualify for the program.
• Creates two classes of producers for purposes of payments under the program:
• Producers with a production capacity smaller than 150 million gallons will be eligible for 95% of the money provided for the program.
• Producers with a capacity over 150 million gallons will qualify for 5% of program funds.
• Legislation allows the Secretary of Agriculture to structure the program in a manner that will allow all gallons of production to qualify for the program. The final structure will ultimately be determined by the USDA rulemaking process that will implement the program. This is a significant change from earlier versions of the legislation that specifically limited program support to new production.
• Does not contain proposal from Senate Farm Bill that would have required producers to choose between payments under the program or the small producer tax credit.

Biodiesel Education Program:
The Farm Bill also reauthorizes the Biodiesel Education Program at $5 million over 5 years, or $1 million per year. The program provides funding to support increased fuel quality measures, increase acceptance of biodiesel by engine and equipment manufacturers, petroleum partners, users, and the general public.

The reauthorization of the CCC Bioenergy Program in a manner that allows all gallons of production to qualify for the program is a significant win for the biodiesel industry that will help biodiesel producers offset rising feedstock costs. In addition, continued support for the Biodiesel Education Program will allow important efforts that increase public awareness and acceptance of biodiesel to continue. Accordingly, the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) will be supporting passage of the Farm Bill.