Vilsack: USDA Will Continue to Push for Blender Pump Expansion

by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The USDA’s Aug. 17 announcement of 900 Rural Energy for America Program grants included just 21 awards for blender pumps. USDA officials promise, however, that more funding is on the way. The announcement highlighted state-approved projects for which grant amounts do not exceed $20,000. A USDA representative said the national office will announce more awards for blender pump project assistance by mid-September. The agency representative could not say exactly how many blender pump projects would be included on the list, but said the project awards will predominantly be greater than $20,000 each.

The USDA has been aggressively promoting the expansion of blender pumps and biofuel infrastructure since last fall when it announced a goal of installing 10,000 blender pumps in the U.S. within the next five years. In a conference call with reporters on Aug. 18, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said his agency will continue to push for expanded infrastructure, perhaps through other programs within the USDA.

...Vilsack, who conducted the Aug. 19 media call from Iowa, said he recently spoke with executives at Des Moines, Iowa-based retail fuel chain Kum & Go LC, which operates 430 gas stations in the Midwest, about its concerns regarding funding for blender pumps in urban areas and asserted that the USDA will work to help provide funding to those types of retailers. “We’re going to continue to market this; we’re going to continue to push it,” he said. “It probably is a little difficult to do because Congress, or at least the House budget, basically wiped out funding for REAP and essentially suggested it shouldn’t be used for blender pumps. That maybe created some confusion in the countryside, but we’re going to continue to market this as long as we have REAP resources.” READ MORE