Lawmakers urge Biden administration to meet March 1 deadline for GREET-model updates

U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota; John Thune, R-South Dakota; and Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois; and a group of 40 bipartisan members of Congress sent a letter Feb. 15 urging the Biden administration to act quickly to ensure that the model used to determine eligibility for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) tax credits unlocks the potential held by farmers, ethanol producers and airlines to reduce carbon emissions from aviation. 

Specifically, the letter urged the members of the SAF lifecycle analysis interagency working group (IWG) at U.S. DOE to update the current Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Technologies (GREET) model for the SAF tax credit program by the March 1 deadline. 

“Biofuels drive economic growth, create good-paying manufacturing jobs, and strengthen economies across rural America,” state the lawmakers in the letter. “As you continue to develop a model to determine eligibility for tax credits under 40B GREET, we ask that you consider the following information to allow every participant in the SAF lifecycle to appropriately participate in the carbon-reduction process. We request that you adopt the updated GREET model as your methodology for determining this eligibility as soon as possible. This will accelerate efforts to decarbonize aviation—in line with the administration’s stated goals—by accurately crediting emissions reductions from regenerative farming, climate-smart agriculture, and carbon capture and storage.”

Klobuchar has long supported legislation to bolster SAF.

In January, Klobuchar and three other senators introduced the Farm to Fly Act.

This legislation would help accelerate the production and development of SAF through existing USDA programs and allow further growth for alternative fuels to be used in the aviation sector, creating new markets for American farmers.

In June, Klobuchar joined four other senators in introducing the Sustainable Aviation Fuels Accuracy Act, comprehensive bipartisan legislation to identify the standards required to meet the definition of SAF at the Federal Aviation Administration.

In June 2021, Klobuchar announced the introduction of a new package of bipartisan bills to expand the availability of low-carbon renewable fuels, incentivize the use of higher blends of biofuels, and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

Also in 2021, Klobuchar and Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, reintroduced bipartisan legislation to create a renewable fuel infrastructure grant program and streamline regulatory requirements to help fuel retailers sell higher blends of ethanol.

The Renewable Fuels Association thanked the bipartisan group of 43 lawmakers for the letter they sent to members of the IWG, asking them to meet their March 1 deadline for updates to the GREET model and ensure the updates are based on sound science, current data, and methodologies that properly recognize modern practices in agriculture and biofuel production.

“RFA applauds this bipartisan group of lawmakers … for pushing the Biden administration to ensure the proper implementation of sustainable aviation fuel tax credits,” said Geoff Cooper, RFA president and CEO. “We thank these lawmakers for urging the administration to utilize the best available science and data when determining eligibility for the SAF tax credit established in the Inflation Reduction Act. A transparent and scientifically sound approach is crucial to stimulating investment in domestic SAF production, fostering innovation and creating American jobs.”

The full text of the letter is available here.