Ways and Means panel unveils green tax credit package

Source: By Kelsey Tamborrino, Politico • Posted: Monday, September 13, 2021

Biofuel and agriculture advocates are sounding the alarm over the language of a proposed $1.25-$1.75 sustainable aviation fuel tax credit, which they argue would make the administration’s new SAF targets extremely difficult to achieve. Under the bill, sustainable aviation fuels would need to meet lifecycle emissions reduction requirements adopted by the International Civil Aviation Organization, which biofuels groups and farmers say does not use the most comprehensive modeling approaches, leaving some SAF pathways “inaccurate and inappropriately penalized.” They call for use of the Energy Department’s GREET model instead.

Several groups, including the Renewable Fuels Association and American Farm Bureau Federation, sent a letter over the weekend to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer urging them to change the language in the Ways and Means package, as well as language on SAF out of the Transportation Committee and on a SAF pilot program in the FY22 National Defense Authorization Act. The provisions “exclude SAF derived from agricultural feedstocks from incentive programs and ensure that the Administration’s vision for reducing aviation emissions and the cited opportunities for American agriculture are not realized,” they wrote. “Instead, SAF blend stock from Brazil, Singapore and elsewhere will be subsidized by U.S. taxpayers, while U.S. producers and farmers are shut out.”

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