[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2271 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2271

To amend the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to provide 
  grants for eligible entities for activities designed to expand the 
sales and use of biofuels derived from agricultural feedstocks produced 
             in the United States, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 24, 2021

  Ms. Klobuchar (for herself and Ms. Ernst) introduced the following 
      bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                  Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to provide 
  grants for eligible entities for activities designed to expand the 
sales and use of biofuels derived from agricultural feedstocks produced 
             in the United States, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Biofuel Infrastructure and 
Agricultural Product Market Expansion Act of 2021''.

SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR EXPANDING DOMESTIC BIOFUEL CONSUMPTION.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Biofuels are an immediately available path toward 
        decarbonizing the transportation sector while driving rural 
        economic development and growth, stabilizing feedstock prices, 
        and providing additional markets for agricultural products.
            (2) United States farmers are producing record amounts of 
        feedstock for renewable fuels, but market disruptions and 
        fluctuations due to the COVID-19 pandemic have created 
        uncertain times for United States feedstock producers.
            (3) Biofuels, which contribute to energy security, reduce 
        air pollution, and support rural economic development, are an 
        important market for United States feedstock producers.
            (4) According to the Alternative Fuels Data Center of the 
        Department of Energy, 39 percent of the United States corn crop 
        was refined into ethanol in 2019.
            (5) According to the Energy Information Administration, 30 
        percent of United States soybean oil was used for biodiesel 
        production in 2019.
            (6) Higher blends of biofuels like E15 and B20 are 
        dispensed using blender pumps or dedicated E15 and B20 pumps.
            (7) Infrastructure constraints and other barriers currently 
        limit the market for biofuels and the feedstocks used to 
        produce biofuels.
    (b) Biofuel Infrastructure and Agricultural Product Market 
Expansion Grant Program.--Title IX of the Farm Security and Rural 
Investment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8101 et seq.) is amended by adding at 
the end the following:

``SEC. 9015. BIOFUEL INFRASTRUCTURE AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCT MARKET 
              EXPANSION GRANT PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Definition of Eligible Entity.--In this section, the term 
`eligible entity' means--
            ``(1) a State or unit of local government;
            ``(2) a Tribal government;
            ``(3) an authority, agency, partnership, or instrumentality 
        of an entity described in paragraph (1) or (2); and
            ``(4) a group of entities described in paragraphs (1) 
        through (3).
    ``(b) Establishment.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this section, the Secretary shall establish a grant 
program to award grants to eligible entities to carry out the 
activities described in subsection (f).
    ``(c) Purpose.--The purposes of the grant program established under 
subsection (b) shall be--
            ``(1) to increase the use of domestic agricultural crops by 
        expanding or aiding in the expansion of domestic biofuel 
        markets;
            ``(2) to aid in the development of new and additional 
        biofuel markets, marketing facilities, and uses for feedstock 
        derived from agricultural crops and other biomass;
            ``(3) to stabilize prices in agricultural markets by 
        increasing demand for feedstock derived from agricultural 
        crops;
            ``(4) to boost domestic production and use of biofuels to 
        promote rural economic development and job creation; and
            ``(5) to support farm income by increasing demand for 
        feedstock use and production.
    ``(d) Applications.--An eligible entity desiring a grant under this 
section shall submit to the Secretary an application at the time, in 
the manner, and containing the information that the Secretary may 
require.
    ``(e) Eligibility Criteria.--In selecting an eligible entity to 
receive a grant under this section, the Secretary shall consider the 
extent to which the application of the eligible entity proposes--
            ``(1) to convert existing pump infrastructure to deliver 
        ethanol blends with greater than 10 percent ethanol;
            ``(2) to diversify the geographic area selling ethanol 
        blends with greater than 10 percent ethanol;
            ``(3) to support existing or emerging biodiesel, bioheat, 
        and sustainable aviation fuel markets that have existing 
        incentives;
            ``(4) to increase the use of existing fuel delivery 
        infrastructure;
            ``(5) to enable or accelerate the deployment of renewable 
        fuel infrastructure that would be unlikely to be completed 
        without Federal assistance; and
            ``(6) to build and retrofit traditional and pipeline 
        biodiesel terminal operations (including rail lines) and home 
        heating oil distribution centers or equivalent entities--
                    ``(A) to blend biodiesel; and
                    ``(B) to carry ethanol and biodiesel.
    ``(f) Eligible Use.--An eligible entity that receives a grant under 
this section may use the grant funds--
            ``(1) to distribute to private or public entities for costs 
        related to incentivizing deployment of renewable fuel 
        infrastructure;
            ``(2) to convert existing pump infrastructure to deliver 
        ethanol blends greater than 10 percent and biodiesel blends 
        greater than 20 percent;
            ``(3) to install fuel pumps and related infrastructure 
        dedicated to the distribution of higher ethanol blends 
        (including E15 and E85) and higher biodiesel blends up to B100 
        at fueling locations, including--
                    ``(A) local fueling stations;
                    ``(B) convenience stores;
                    ``(C) hypermarket fueling stations; and
                    ``(D) fleet facilities or similar entities; and
            ``(4) to build and retrofit traditional and pipeline 
        biodiesel terminal operations (including rail lines) and home 
        heating oil distribution centers or equivalent entities--
                    ``(A) to blend biodiesel; and
                    ``(B) to carry ethanol and biodiesel.
    ``(g) Certification Requirement.--Any infrastructure used or 
installed with grant funds provided under this section shall be 
certified by the Underwriters Laboratory as infrastructure that 
distributes blends with an ethanol content of 25 percent or greater.
    ``(h) Funding.--
            ``(1) Federal share.--The Federal share of the total cost 
        of carrying out a project awarded a grant under this section 
        shall not exceed 75 percent.
            ``(2) Maximum percentage for certain activities.--An 
        eligible entity receiving a grant under this section shall 
        ensure that Federal funds do not exceed--
                    ``(A) 75 percent of the per pump cost for--
                            ``(i) pumps that can dispense a range of 
                        ethanol blends of E85 or lower (new pumps or 
                        retrofit of existing pumps); and
                            ``(ii) dedicated E15 or E85 pumps (new 
                        pumps or retrofit of existing pumps);
                    ``(B) 50 percent of the terminal cost for terminals 
                with B100 capabilities; or
                    ``(C) 40 percent of the per tank cost for new 
                storage tanks and related equipment associated with new 
                facilities or additional capacity other than 
                replacement of existing storage tanks and related 
                equipment associated with existing facilities.
    ``(i) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section $100,000,000 
for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2030.''.
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