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Fuel Retailers, Coalition Applaud Senate Bill to Extend the Biodiesel Blenders’ Tax Credit

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ALEXANDRIA, VA. – NATSO, representing America’s travel centers and truck stops, SIGMA: America’s Leading Fuel Marketers, the American Trucking Associations (ATA), National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), SABR: representing every link in the biodiesel value chain, and the National Energy & Fuels Institute (NEFI) commended Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), and Pete Ricketts (R-NE) for introducing the Biodiesel Tax Credit Extension Act of 2024, which would extend the Biodiesel Blenders’ Tax Credit.

S. 5582 is a companion to H.R. 9060, the Biodiesel Tax Credit Extension Act of 2024, introduced earlier this year by Representatives Mike Carey (R-OH) and Ann Kuster (D-NH). H.R. 9060 has widespread bipartisan support in the House of Representatives.

The Biodiesel Tax Credit Extension Act of 2024 would extend the biodiesel tax credit for one year at the blender level. Extending the Biodiesel Blenders’ Tax Credit would immediately incentivize fuel retailers nationwide to buy and blend more gallons of biodiesel, which is better for the environment than petroleum-diesel. 

Uncertainty about the tax status of biodiesel currently is creating risks for the future of that market. An extension of the current Biodiesel Blenders’ Tax Credit is needed to address this uncertainty.

Since 2004, the biodiesel tax credit has effectively incented fuel retailers to invest in the necessary infrastructure to sell low-carbon alternative fuels while encouraging consumers to buy renewable fuel blends because of their lower cost.

“We are grateful to Senators Tillis, Ernst, Fischer, Grassley, and Ricketts for their leadership and are eager to help them build on the support this legislation already enjoys,” said and SIGMA Executive Director of Government Affairs David Fialkov. “The biodiesel tax credit has spurred private investment in lower emission fuels for the transportation sector while also lowering costs for consumers. Ensuring that the transportation sector can access renewable diesel and biodiesel allows it to take advantage of economically viable solutions while lowering emissions today. We look forward to working with all Senators to move this legislation over the finish line.”

“This legislation is key to the future of advanced renewable fuels,” said Doug Kantor, general counsel at the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS). “We applaud Senators Tillis, Fischer, Grassley, Ernst and Ricketts for recognizing the critical role that renewable diesel and biodiesel play in reducing fuel costs for consumers by supporting an extension of the Biodiesel Blenders’ Tax Credit. We urge the full Senate to extend this successful policy as soon as possible.”

Biodiesel historically has been the most widely consumed biofuel for use in commercial trucking and represents the best opportunity to reduce carbon emissions from the nation’s commercial trucking fleet for the foreseeable future. It is also widely used to heat homes.

The biodiesel tax credit lowers the price that truck drivers pay for diesel fuel, which in turn lowers the cost of shipping and therefore the price consumers pay for products that are moved by truck. Extending the biodiesel tax credit will safeguard the ability of motor carriers to reduce carbon emissions in the nation’s existing commercial fleets while lowering fuel prices and the cost of goods for consumers.

“To get to zero emissions, we need more technology-neutral solutions in the immediate term, including alternative fuels like biodiesel and renewable diesel,” said Henry Hanscom, senior vice president of legislative affairs for the American Trucking Associations. “This legislation would expand access to these low-carbon, proven energy sources and dramatically reduce our environmental impact.”

“Sustainable Advanced Biofuel Refiners (SABR) applauds the leadership of these Senators to extend 40A,” said Joe Jobe, CEO of the SABR Coalition. “SABR has been a consistent supporter of the 40A extension to help support U.S. farmers and crushers, U.S. biodiesel producers and U.S. truck stop operators as we navigate this interim period while we work with Congress to correct flaws in new tax credits scheduled to take effect in 2025.”

NEFI President & CEO Jim Collura said, “The National Energy & Fuels Institute (NEFI) applauds the introduction of the Biodiesel Tax Credit Extension Act of 2024. The BTC has been crucial in supporting the heating oil industry’s transition to renewable liquid heating fuels, which offer an immediate, cost-effective, and equitable path to carbon reduction for the five million American homes it serves. The introduction of this bill is a vital step in ensuring a stable supply of renewable liquid heating fuels in the broader Northeast, where 90 percent of home heating oil is used. Extending the BTC will provide much-needed certainty for our mostly small, family-owned and operated heating fuel businesses and their consumers and keep us moving forward – not backward – in the ongoing effort to reduce building emissions.”

The Biodiesel Blenders’ Tax Credit has helped build a robust renewable diesel industry in the United States while decreasing carbon emissions associated with transportation fuel. The U.S. biodiesel and renewable diesel market has grown to approximately 4 billion gallons in 2023, a 40-fold increase from roughly 100 million gallons in 2005.

Biodiesel and renewable diesel eliminated 15 million metric tons of CO2 in California alone in 2020, the equivalent of taking more than 3 million passenger cars off the roads. Compared with petroleum-based diesel, renewable diesel and biodiesel reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80 percent. The California Air Resources Board recently underscored their important role in reducing carbon emissions, announcing that renewable diesel and biodiesel constitute more than half of the diesel supply in California.

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Tiffany Wlazlowski Neuman
Wlazlowski Neuman leads and the Foundation’s public affairs initiatives and communications strategies to promote the truck stop and travel center industry to the public, opinion leaders, elected officials, and the media. Her outreach includes a spectrum of policy issues facing the industry, with a particular focus on transportation and fuel issues, truck parking, and human trafficking. She serves as NATSO’s representative on the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Truck Parking Coalition, the Clean Freight Coalition, and various state truck parking technical advisory committees. She is the architect of the truck stop and travel center industry’s anti-human trafficking campaign and currently serves as a Committee member for the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Human Trafficking Advisory Council. Wlazlowski Neuman serves on the American Highway Users Policy and Government Affairs Committee.

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