President Biden today signed a bill into law that addresses issues ranging from health care to the environment and includes new funding to encourage agricultural conservation programs and advance biofuels.
“Through this legislation, Congress and the administration recognize that farmers’ voluntary climate-smart agricultural practices are an important part of addressing climate change,” said Brooke S. Appleton, the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) vice president of public policy. “We are also particularly pleased to see Congress and the administration acknowledge that low-carbon biofuels like ethanol are needed to help decarbonize transportation and improve energy security.”
The law allocates $19.9 billion in funding for U.S. Department of Agriculture’s conservation programs and $1 billion for additional conservation technical assistance. These allocations include:
- $8.45 billion for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program
- $6.75 billion for the Regional Conservation Partnership Program
- $3.25 billion for the Conservation Stewardship Program
- $1.4 billion for the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program
To advance biofuels, the legislation includes:
- $500 million for infrastructure for greater market deployment of higher blends of biofuels
- New tax credits based on carbon reduction to incentivize clean fuels such as biofuels like ethanol and new sustainable aviation fuel
NCGA worked closely with allies of farmers and rural communities to ensure the legislation did not change tax provisions that would directly affect family farms.
