Get pumped

Source: BY MATTHEW CHOI, Politico • Posted: Wednesday, September 8, 2021

Retail gas stations look likely to get some fresh cash to build out infrastructure to accommodate higher blends of ethanol and biodiesel. The House Agriculture Committee is lining up $1 billion for the effort in its draft reconciliation bill, Kelsey Tamborrino reports for Pros. That’s double the amount of money proposed by lawmakers earlier this year.

The funding would go through Agriculture Department grants to help expand biofuels pumps, upgrade existing tanks and pumps and increase the use of biofuel blends with higher amounts of ethanol and biodiesel, Kelsey reports. Reps. Cindy Axne (D-Iowa) and Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) had previously proposed $500 million over five years for the grants.

Lawmakers from corn-states have been pushing for biofuels in their infrastructure plans, with Axne, co-chair of the Congressional Biofuels Caucus, expressing “strong reservations” about supporting any infrastructure package that didn’t include biofuels investments. She and several other Democrats from Midwestern states wrote to party leadership insisting biofuels be included in Democrats’ $3.5 trillion budget plan. The House Agriculture Committee is meeting Friday to go over its portion of the budget bill, with draft text expected to go out Thursday.

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