Industry in Full Court Press on DC Priorities

by Donnell Rehagen (National Biodiesel Board/Biodiesel Magazine) ... Our big three in D.C. remain the Renewable Fuel Standard, the trade case and the biodiesel tax incentive. All three issues require a comprehensive, multifaceted approach made up of advocacy efforts in Congress, various federal agencies and legal work. And all require significant efforts.

With the stakes this high, I have taken an expanded role in day-to-day D.C. operations and NBB Chief Operating Officer Doug Whitehead has taken up residence in the district, working full time from our Washington office to orchestrate our expansive, skilled team of staff and contractor resources. Also in this critical time, we have stepped up coordination of D.C. assets of NBB member companies through weekly meetings and near-daily communication. This allows the industry to laser focus our efforts into the most effective strategies and utilize our combined skills, connections and resources for the greater good of the industry.

We are extremely concerned with the proposed rule’s unprecedented cut to the advanced biofuel volume and freeze in the biomass-based diesel volume. Both proposals run counter to Congress’ objectives to promote the growth of advanced biofuels like biodiesel.

Final commerce department determinations will be issued later this year for countervailing duties and in early 2018 for antidumping, with final determinations by the U.S. International Trade Commission soon after. The industry continues to work with the ITC to advance the case, including a standard public hearing set for Nov. 9 in Washington, D.C. These cases are critical to competitiveness of U.S. biodiesel producers and work in concert with our other efforts.

And finally, the biodiesel tax incentive, our longest-running federal priority, continues to move forward. There hasn’t been as much public discussion around the tax incentive since May when the ‘‘American Renewable Fuel and Job Creation Act of 2017’’ was introduced in both the House and Senate, but plenty continues to be done to position ourselves for any possible legislative vehicle for tax policy. In the Senate, S. 944, is led by U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Maria Cantwell, D-Washington. The companion legislation H.R. 2383 mirrors the Senate bill and is led by U.S. Reps. Kristi Noem, R-South Dakota, and Bill Pascrell, D-New Jersey. Comprehensive tax reform, budget negotiations, and even a tax extenders package are all viable options to move our incentive forward before the end of the year. READ MORE

Excerpt from Biodiesel Magazine-France: As a result of Argentina’s differential export tax scheme, Argentine biodiesel is being sold on the European market at a price that is much lower than that of the soybean oil used to produce it, Saipol noted, adding that the price is equal to or less than the price of raw rapeseed oil used to produce biodiesel in France.

The company stated that if no effective countermeasures are implemented, the French sector will be unable to deal with this “unfair competition,” particularly since EU antidumping duties on Indonesian biodiesel may also be reduced; renewable diesel market growth in the EU based on palm imports; and the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive II is expected to decrease by half the share of first-generation biofuels required for on-road fuel between 2020 and 2030.