Congressional
contacts continue to signal a biodiesel tax incentive extension is likely, but
they discount staffer talk about moving to a producer credit. Senate Finance
Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, would revive the lapsed credit for blenders of
biodiesel in a tax-extenders bill. Derek Theurer, an aide to Sen. Bill Cassidy,
R-La., said at an event this week that Finance panel members still are
considering moving it to a producer credit. But veteran Capitol Hill contacts
say the Trump administration already has made its views known in opposition to
any such change, and there is not widespread support in Congress.
Meanwhile,
Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., a top Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) foe, continued
to push for RFS reforms. "If a refinery goes bankrupt because of a system
that the government put in place after the refinery was built, that’s not a
system that’s worked. So we need to modernize and modernize this to take into
account where we are today with the technology and the vehicles and the amount
of fuel being consumed," he told Politico, adding "[Sen. John Cornyn,
R-Texas, is] leading the efforts to develop this bipartisan reform bill that
all the stakeholders can support and then once that’s introduced the committee
is going to give it serious consideration."