On February 13, 2014, Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) introduced S. 2021, a bill to extend and reform the $1 per-gallon biodiesel tax credit that expired on December 31, 2013. The bill would extend this credit for three years through 2017. It would provide a $1 per-gallon tax credit for the production of biodiesel, renewable diesel, and aviation jet fuel that complies with fuel standards and the Clean Air Act. The bill would modify the definition of biodiesel to encourage production from any biomass-based feedstock, or recycled oils and fats. It would increase the ... read more >

Several incentives designed to encourage renewable energy development and production, including the $1 per gallon tax credit for biodiesel producers and the $1.01 per gallon credit for cellulosic ethanol production, expired on December 31, 2013. Should extenders be considered, it is likely these two credits will be extended and likely retroactively. Although given election year politics and ongoing budget battles, if and when this happens is tougher to predict. In the short term, one legislative vehicle could be legislation to increase the debt limit expected to pass later this winter or ... read more >

On December 18, 2013, President Obama announced that he will nominate Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) to be the next Ambassador to China. The nomination is expected to pass quickly and without much opposition. Senator Baucus serves as the Chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, the tax writing Committee. When he leaves the Senate, current Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR) is expected to assume the chairmanship. These moves will impact the fate of incentives for the biofuels and renewable chemicals and products industries, including whether and when the ... read more >

On December 12, 2013, Representative Scott Peters (D-CA), Chair of the House Algae Caucus, introduced H.R. 3758, a bill to extend the $1.01/gallon second generation biofuel producer credit and the special allowance for second generation biofuel plant property. These incentives are among several currently set to expire at the end of the year. Members of the House and Senate have sent letters to the Chairs and Ranking Members of their respective tax writing Committees -- the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee -- urging the extension of ten clean energy incentives ... read more >

On December 18, 2013, Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-MT) unveiled a detailed summary of staff discussion draft legislation designed to reform current energy incentives under the U.S. Tax Code. In sum, the proposal would consolidate nearly all 42 existing energy incentives under two categories of incentives: technology-neutral tax incentives for domestic production of (1) clean electricity and (2) clean fuels. The detailed summary of the discussion draft acknowledges and requests comment on the fact that the energy tax reform proposal would not provide incentives for other ... read more >

On December 9, 2013, 60 companies sent a letter to the leaders of the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee and U.S. Senate Committee on Finance urging them to extend various biofuels incentives. These incentives, including the $1.00 per gallon credit for biodiesel, are scheduled to expire at the end of the year. While industry was able to secure extension of these incentives last year in legislation to prevent the "fiscal cliff," the prognosis for similar success is diminished in light of the current comprehensive tax reform effort. The companies are against any proposal that would ... read more >

This week, the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation released its score of S. 795, the Master Limited Partnerships Parity Act, a bi-partisan bill introduced by Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) earlier this year. The Committee estimated that the bill would cost $1.3 billion over ten years. Reportedly, Senator Coons welcomed the score and has committed to trying to find an offset or spending cut to pay for it. The Chair of the Senate Finance Committee's Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources and Infrastructure, Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), has publicly stated her support for the ... read more >

On November 12, 2013, 17 "green groups," including Greenpeace, the Sierra Club, and the League of Conservation Voters, sent a letter to the leaders of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance urging the extension of several tax incentives designed to promote investment in the development of clean energy. For instance, the letter urges the extension of the 48C Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit, which provides an investment tax credit of up to 30 percent of qualified investment in a qualifying advanced energy project, which is defined to be a project that establishes, expands, or ... read more >

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released an advice memorandum from the agency's Office of Chief Counsel determining that "y electing the § 6426(c) excise tax credit [biodiesel mixture credit] and/or the § 6427(e) excise tax payment instead of the § 40A income tax credit, a blender is not required by § 87 or by § 61 to include in its gross income the amount of the § 6426(c) excise tax credits and/or the § 6427(e) payments that it claims." A copy of the memorandum is available ... read more >