Dozens of US House members demand treasury department to prioritize domestic energy producers

U.S. Reps. Tracey Mann of Kansas and Marcy Kaptur of Ohio led 39 of their colleagues in sending a bipartisan letter to the U.S. Department of the Treasury urging it to expedite the issuance of final guidance for the clean fuel production credit in advance of its Jan. 1 deadline and to restrict the eligibility to renewable fuels made from domestic feedstocks by domestic fuel producers.

Once implemented, the credit, as intended by Congress, will bolster American energy independence by prioritizing American producers and the production of biofuels made with domestically produced feedstocks. 

“As you know, the clean fuel production credit (45Z) is intended to stimulate the development of a domestic fuel supply chain,” the members wrote. “If drafted and implemented per congressional intent, 45Z will support American energy independence by incentivizing the production of biofuels made with domestically produced feedstocks, while continuing to support global renewable fuel production made from a wide array of feedstocks. Treasury must ensure that the 45Z tax credit is only applicable to fuels produced domestically with domestic feedstocks, so American farmers, processors, businesses, investors and end-users can benefit from the 45Z tax credit and the long-anticipated promise of new biofuels markets.” 

The letter is supported by American Farm Bureau Federation, National Farmers Union, National Oilseed Processors Association, American Soybean Association, National Corn Growers Association, Growth Energy, Scoular, and Louis Dreyfus Company.

“Without this fix, the 45Z credit will incentivize the continued use of foreign feedstocks over U.S. feedstocks produced by American farmers,” said Kailee Tkacz Buller, NOPA president and CEO. “NOPA members have made commitments to expand U.S. crush capacity by 30 percent with $6 billion in investments to process domestic row crops into biofuels in line with state and federal renewable fuel and tax provisions, however current market conditions are beginning to call into question the viability of future investments. We firmly support free trade and open markets but cannot stand by and let foreign feedstocks benefit to the detriment of U.S. crushers, U.S. farmers and U.S. taxpayers alike. Thank you to the leadership of this bipartisan group for not only standing up for domestic fuels and domestic feedstocks, but the viability of this critically important domestic industry.”

Ed Prosser, senior vice president of Scoular, added, “In its current form, the 45Z credit will use American tax dollars to displace the American farmer by favoring foreign products, and, therefore, it must be limited to domestic feedstocks. The bipartisan letter led by Rep. Mann and his bipartisan coalition puts farmers in a competitive position, and we salute him for his leadership on this critical issue.”

In July 2024, Reps. Mann and Kaptur joined 52 of their colleagues to urge U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to take immediate action to finalize the implementation rules for 45Z.

The members requested a response to the letter by Sept. 27, 2024. The full letter can be found here.