NEWS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 Contact: Paul Winters
 202-737-8801
pwinters@biodiesel.org

WASHINGTON, DC - The National Biodiesel Board (NBB) today released comments in response to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's request for information on the Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program (HBIIP). NBB expressed the biodiesel industry's gratitude for inclusion in the program, since the infrastructure needs for biodiesel, renewable diesel, Bioheat® fuel, and sustainable aviation fuel are different from those of other biofuels.

"The biodiesel industry is grateful for the opportunity to be included in this program," NBB states in the comments. "As USDA moves forward, we ask that the department be inclusive of all infrastructure opportunities that would increase the use of biodiesel, including Bioheat® fuel and sustainable aviation fuel. In order to ensure the best return on dollars spent and facilitate true growth, we ask that USDA emphasize investments where there is either an existing or emerging market."

Kurt Kovarik, NBB's VP of Federal Affairs, added, "We thank USDA and administration leaders for following through on President Trump's pledge to support infrastructure projects that facilitate higher biofuel blends. American consumers are increasingly demanding access to clean, low-carbon, advanced biofuels, like biodiesel. We look forward to working with USDA to strengthen the market for higher blends of biodiesel, renewable diesel, Bioheat® fuel and sustainable aviation fuels."

USDA's Rural Business-Cooperative Service and Commodity Credit Corporation are exploring options to expand U.S. biodiesel and ethanol availability through infrastructure projects to facilitate increased sales of biofuel blends, including B20 and higher. The effort aims to build on the Biofuels Infrastructure Partnership (BIP), which from 2016 to 2019 expanded infrastructure for higher ethanol blends.

In its comments, NBB asked USDA to focus the program on investments in strategic terminals, pipeline storage and rail expansion to create broader downstream capacity to sell more gallons: "Investments would be best served on opportunities that would afford the greatest additional volumes of biodiesel (references to biodiesel include Bioheat and sustainable aviation fuel) to enter the marketplace. The greatest barriers to biodiesel distribution are at the terminal and pipeline terminal level, as well as rail to reach distribution centers."

A copy of NBB's comments is available for download.

Made from an increasingly diverse mix of resources such as recycled cooking oil, soybean oil and animal fats, biodiesel is a renewable, clean-burning diesel replacement that can be used in existing diesel engines without modification. It is the nation's first domestically produced, commercially available advanced biofuel. NBB is the U.S. trade association representing the entire biodiesel value chain, including producers, feedstock suppliers, and fuel distributors, as well as the U.S. renewable diesel industry.

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For more about biodiesel, visit www.biodiesel.org.