U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL)
U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL)
U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) released a statement this week after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the final rule on the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).
Congress created The Renewable Fuels Standard to push for growth in the biofuels industry. The Environmental Protection Agency had proposed changes in RFS in 2013, spurring Durbin to lead a bipartisan effort to better support the biofuels industry. Durbin recently met with the White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough with 12 of his colleagues to push for strong renewable volume obligations through 2017.
“I am disappointed that the biofuels volume requirements announced by the EPA today are not higher, but thanks to input from thousands of farmers and industry partners, this rule is much stronger than the original proposal,” Durbin said. “I will continue working with Illinois stakeholders to ensure that our state is in a position to take advantage of federal resources to support the biofuels industry.”
The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) awarded the State of Illinois more than $11.9 million in federal funding in September. The new Biofuel Infrastructure Partnership (BIP) awarded grants to test ways to distribute renewable biofuels. In Illinois, the funding is being used to expand the biofuel infrastructure by adding 65 fueling stations with approximately 428 pumps available to biofuel users.
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