|
|  |
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NCGA Hails Progress of RFS in House, Highway Trust Fund Fix in Senate
April
3,
2003
Contact: Tracy Grondine, NCGA, (202) 628-7001
(WASHINGTON) April 3, 2003 -- The National Corn Growers Association
(NCGA) moved two steps closer to attaining a renewable fuels standard
(RFS) Wednesday when the House and Senate took major action on related
bills. In a 32-14 vote late yesterday, the House Energy and Commerce
Committee approved an energy bill that includes an RFS.
Additionally, the Senate Finance Committee passed an energy tax incentive
bill that promotes the use of ethanol with its inclusion of the Highway
Trust Fund (HTF) fix and the Small Producer Tax Credit upgrade. Both
achievements are being hailed a victory by the NCGA.
Under the House bill, the current oxygenate standard for reformulated
gasoline would be removed, air quality and anti-backsliding provisions
would be enhanced and an RFS reaching 5 billion gallons in 2015 would
be established. The committee defeated several amendments that sought
to eliminate or modify the fuels section. For example, an amendment
by Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) to eliminate the RFS was soundly defeated
34-14.
" While there are some aspects NCGA would like to see improved
in the House energy bill to reflect the rapid growth of the ethanol
industry, mainly the RFS schedule, this was a positive step forward,
" said NCGA President Fred Yoder. " The House Energy Committee
should be commended for its action, but the work is not done yet. We
have a long way to go in this important process. "
Yoder noted the House last year did not include an RFS in its energy
bill. " It is a huge step for growers to have an RFS reported out
of committee yesterday in the House energy bill, " said Yoder.
The Senate success is also important for growers. The bipartisan supported
tax incentive legislation corrects the gap in the ethanol excise tax
exemption so that ethanol and gasoline make the same contribution to
the HTF. Within the current gasoline excise tax, 18.4 cents is paid
into the general fund (GF) for gasoline. For ethanol, only 13.2 cents
is paid into the GF. The 5.2 cents deduction is the ethanol excise tax
exemption.
More specifically, refiners and gasoline marketers using 10 percent
ethanol blends receive a 5.2-cents-per-gallon reduction from the tax
paid on straight gasoline. Since federal motor fuel taxes are a primary
source of funding for highway programs, the issue has arisen as to the
revenue impact of ethanol-blended fuels on the HTF. The Senate Finance
Committee fixed this gap yesterday.
The Senate package also includes modifications to the small ethanol
producer tax credit by allocating the 10-cents-per-gallon production
income alcohol fuels credit to the members of a farmer cooperative (this
credit is in addition to the 53-cents-per-gallon tax incentive generally
available for ethanol). It also changes the definition of a "small
ethanol producer" from 30 million gallons per year to 60 million
gallons per year.
" Getting both of these bills passed out of committee was a huge
undertaking, " continued Yoder. " Many people don ' t realize
how complex the process is with several committees in each chamber working
on related provisions.
" We have accomplished a great task, " concluded Yoder. "
But we still have a way to go. "
The Senate Energy Committee is scheduled to begin marking up their energy
bill next week. The Senate ' s Environment and Public Works Committee
is also scheduled next week to mark up the Senate RFS bill.
Growers and other supporters of renewable fuels can personally urge
their congressmen and senators to support the RFS by clicking on the
action alert on the upper righthand corner of the NCGA web site, www.ncga.com.
# #
#
The National Corn
Growers Association mission is to create and increase opportunities
for corn growers in a changing world and to enhance corn's profitability
and usage. NCGA represents more than 32,000 members, 25 affiliated state
corn grower organizations and hundreds of thousands of growers who contribute
to state checkoff programs.
|