NEWS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Paul Winters
202-737-8801
pwinters@biodiesel.org
WASHINGTON, DC - The National Biodiesel Board
(NBB) today thanked Sens. Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) for
encouraging Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Charles Rettig to
promptly process 2018-2019 claims for the biodiesel tax credit.
"With
our strong support, Congress took action and renewed the tax incentive for five
years in order to support this important industry and provide a positive market
signal," the Senators write in a letter dated February 13, 2020.
"Timely payment of claims for 2018 and 2019 is necessary for the recovery
of the entire biodiesel industry, including producers, blenders, and
farmers."
In
late December 2019, Congress retroactively reinstated the biodiesel tax
incentive for 2018 and 2019 and extended it through 2022. On January 15, 2020, the IRS issued guidance for biodiesel producers and blenders to claim payments for the retroactively reinstated credit. The
agency will accept claims for 2018 and 2019 credit until August 11, 2020.
Kurt
Kovarik, NBB's VP of Federal Affairs, added, "On behalf of NBB's members
and biodiesel producers across the United States, I thank Senators Ernst and
Grassley for their constant and strong support of the biodiesel industry. The
Senators stood with our industry to urge their colleagues to renew the credit,
issued last-minute appeals to ensure its passage, and have now followed through
to see that the credit provides a much-needed economic lifeline to biodiesel
producers and farmers. We look forward to continuing to work with them as
strong champions for the industry."
Dave
Walton, owner of Walton Farms and Walton Farms Custom Ag, also said,
"Renewal of the biodiesel tax incentive will help sustain and build an
important market for Iowa's soybean growers, who faced a very tough season last
year. We appreciate that Senators Ernst and Grassley stood with Iowa's farmers
and biodiesel producers throughout the challenges." Walton is also an
executive director and treasurer of the Iowa Soybean Association and a member
of NBB's governing board.
Tom
Brooks, general manager of Western Dubuque Biodiesel, added, "Last year,
several of Iowa's biofuel producers were forced to close their doors due to the
lapse of the biodiesel tax credit and the EPA's efforts to undermine the
Renewable Fuel Standard. Senators Ernst and Grassley have been vocal and
effective champions for the industry on both issues." Brooks is also a
member of NBB's governing board.
A copy of the Senators' letter 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
and renewable diesel value chain, including producers, feedstock suppliers, and
fuel distributors.
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For more about biodiesel, visit www.biodiesel.org.