Iowa Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Program board approves $800,000 in grants

Photo: Jenna Higgins Rose, Iowa Biodiesel Board

The Iowa Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Program board approved 15 project applications and 11 supplemental grant requests for a total of more than $800,000 during its quarterly board meeting this month.

Twelve of the fifteen projects are for E15 infrastructure, three are biodiesel terminals, and the eleven previously funded ethanol projects received supplemental grants of $6,000 each.

The RFIP helps fuel retailers provide higher blends of lower-cost, Iowa-grown biofuels to consumers by incentivizing the installation, replacement and conversion of ethanol and biodiesel dispensing and storage infrastructure.

Incentives to upgrade biodiesel terminal and storage facilities are also available.

While the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship manages the program, a board appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Iowa Senate determines grant allocations on a quarterly basis.

“Consumers save money when they can fill their tanks with higher blends of ethanol and biodiesel,” said Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig. “By helping fuel retailers install this infrastructure, we are continually increasing the number of Iowa fueling stations where consumers can buy cleaner-burning and more affordable homegrown biofuels.”

Counties with locations receiving one or more of the 15 project grants include the following: Story, Polk, Dallas, Linn, Sioux, Benton, Buena Vista, Crawford, Dickinson, Dubuque, Clinton, Howard and Madison.

The complete list of locations can be found here.

The supplemental grants were awarded to retailers that have added tanks and associated equipment, including dispensers, for dispensing E15 or higher ethanol blends at additional locations.

To receive supplemental grants, retailers must be awarded multiple RFIP grants and complete their projects within one year of the original installation.

To date, more than $5.75 million of funding for this fiscal year has been awarded to 119 biofuels-infrastructure projects.

The program also leverages significant private investment by the participating fuel retailers.

The Renewable Fuels Infrastructure board will consider additional RFIP grant applications during its next quarterly meeting in July, and the deadline for accepting new applications for that meeting will be June 23 at 4:30 p.m.

The RFIP grant application is available on the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship’s website.

The breakdown of RFIP funding for this fiscal year, so far, is as follows: