NBB Supports Senate Biodiesel Tax Legislation
“Biodiesel and renewable diesel producers around the country are yet again facing what effectively amounts to a tax increase in less than six months,” National Biodiesel Board Vice President of Federal Affairs Anne Steckel said, calling for support of legislation introduced by Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., to extend the biodiesel tax incentive through 2019 and reform it as a domestic production credit.
Steckel said in a statement that the bill “will give producers the certainty they need to hire and grow in the coming years. It will continue our success in diversifying the diesel market and reducing our dependence on petroleum. And it will help clean the air by cutting carbon emissions and other pollution.
“It also will appropriately reform this incentive by applying it only to domestic biodiesel production, ending a growing practice where foreign producers are taking advantage of our tax system,” Steckel said. “Our tax law should not be incentivizing foreign fuel, and this bill fixes that loophole so that we’re stimulating jobs and economic development here at home.”
The bill mirrors House legislation (H.R. 5240) introduced by Reps. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., and Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., Steckel said.
The $1-per-gallon biodiesel tax incentive was reinstated in late 2015 and is slated to expire again on Dec. 31, 2016.