II 109th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 1210 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES June 9, 2005 Mr. Harkin (for himself, Mr. Lugar, Mr. Obama, and Mr. Coleman) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry A BILL To enhance the national security of the United States by providing for the research, development, demonstration, administrative support, and market mechanisms for widespread deployment and commercialization of biobased fuels and biobased products, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title; table of contents

(a)

Short title

This Act may be cited as the National Security and Bioenergy Investment Act of 2005. (b)

Table of contents

The table of contents of this Act is as follows: Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Findings. Sec. 3. Definitions. TITLE I—Biomass Research and Development Sec. 101. Definitions. Sec. 102. Cooperation and coordination in biomass research and development. Sec. 103. Biomass Research and Development Board. Sec. 104. Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee. Sec. 105. Biomass Research and Development Initiative. Sec. 106. Reports. Sec. 107. Funding. Sec. 108. Termination of authority. Sec. 109. Biomass-derived hydrogen. TITLE II—Production incentives Sec. 201. Production incentives. TITLE III—Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Energy and Biobased Products Sec. 301. Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Energy and Biobased Products. TITLE IV—Procurement of biobased products Sec. 401. Federal procurement. Sec. 402. Capitol Complex procurement. Sec. 403. Education . Sec. 404. Regulations. TITLE V—Bioeconomy Grants and tax incentives Sec. 501. Small business bioproduct marketing and certification grants. Sec. 502. Regional bioeconomy development grants. Sec. 503. Preprocessing and harvesting demonstration grants. Sec. 504. Sense of the Senate. TITLE VI—Other provisions Sec. 601. Education and outreach. Sec. 602. Reports.

2.

Findings

Congress finds that— (1)the Governors’ Ethanol Coalition, in the report entitled Ethanol From Biomass America’s 21st Century Transportation Fuel, found that— (A)the dependence of the United States on oil is a major risk to national security and economic and environmental health; (B)the safest and least costly approach to mitigating these risks is to set and achieve aggressive biofuels research, development, production and use goals; and (C)significant investment in cellulosic biofuels, including a dramatic expansion of existing research programs, production and consumer incentives, and commercialization assistance, is needed; (2)the National Academy of Sciences has found that there are abundant sources of waste biomass, and approximately 280,000,000 tons of waste biomass generated, in all regions of the United States each year; (3)the Natural Resources Defense Council has estimated that by 2025, 200,000,000 additional tons of biomass could be harvested each year from dedicated energy crops grown throughout the country, yielding $5,000,000,000 annually in profit for farmers; (4)the Department of Agriculture has estimated that energy derived from existing biomass supplies could displace 25 percent of current petroleum imports while still meeting agricultural demands; (5)if all diesel fuel in the United States were blended with a 4-percent blend of biodiesel, crude oil consumption in the United States would be reduced by 300,000,000 barrels each year by 2016; (6)there is sufficient domestic feedstock for the production of at least 8,000,000,000 annual gallons of renewable fuels, including ethanol and biodiesel, by 2012; (7)the Natural Resources Defense Council has estimated that biomass could supply 50 percent of current transportation petroleum demand by 2050; (8)the National Academy of Sciences has estimated that enough agricultural crop residue is produced each year to entirely replace the 700,000,000 barrels of petroleum used in organic chemical production in 2004; (9)the Biotechnology Industry Organization, in its report entitled New Biotechnology Tools for a Cleaner Environment, found that if all plastics in the United States were made from biomass, oil consumption would decrease by up to 145,000,000 barrels per year; (10)the National Academy of Sciences has reported that biobased products have the potential to improve the sustainability of natural resources, environmental quality, and national security while competing economically; (11)the Department of Agriculture has made significant advances in the understanding and use by the United States of biomass as a feedstock for fuels and products; (12)through participation with the Department of Energy in the Biomass Research and Development Initiative, the Department of Agriculture has also made valuable contributions, through grant-making and other initiatives, to the support of biomass research and development at institutions throughout the United States; (13)the Government Accountability Office has found that— (A)actions to implement the requirements of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Public Law 107–171; 116 Stat. 134) for purchasing biobased products have been limited; and (B)greater priority by the Department of Agriculture would promote compliance by other agencies with biobased purchasing requirements; (14)an Assistant Secretary of the Department of Agriculture for Energy and Biobased Products would provide the priority, staff, and financial resources to fully implement biobased purchasing requirements and other provisions of the energy title of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002; (15)Federal Government contractors and the Architect of the Capitol are currently exempt from biobased purchasing requirements of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002; (16)expansion of those biobased purchasing requirements— (A)to Federal contractors would significantly expand the market for, and advance commercialization of, biobased products; and (B)to the Architect of the Capitol would, in combination with a program of public education, allow the Capitol Complex to serve as a showcase for the existence, use, and benefits of biobased products; (17)fuel derived from cellulosic biomass could have near-zero net carbon dioxide and sulfur emissions, and substantially reduced carbon monoxide, particulate and toxic emissions relative to petroleum-based fuels; (18)the bipartisan National Commission on Energy Policy has predicted that with a dedicated Federal research, development, and demonstration effort, cellulosic ethanol could be less expensive to produce than gasoline by 2015; (19)the 2004 report of the Rocky Mountain Institute, entitled Winning the Oil Endgame, estimated that a mature biomass industry would create up to 1,045,000 jobs; (20)the National Academy of Sciences has found that there are significant opportunities to produce biomass ethanol more efficiently; (21)the National Commission on Energy Policy has found that current Federal programs directed toward reducing the cost of biofuels are under-funded, intermittent, scattered, and poorly targeted; (22)a report commissioned by the Department of Defense urged the United States to invest in a new large-scale initiative to produce biofuels as an alternative supply source, and as a feedstock for future fuel vehicles; (23)the Consumer Federation of America has found that the blending of ethanol into conventional gasoline can significantly benefit consumers by lowering prices at the pump; (24)45 leading national security, labor, and energy policy experts joined the Energy Future Coalition in supporting a national commitment to cut the oil use of the United States by 25 percent by 2025 through the rapid development and deployment of advanced biomass, alcohol, and other available petroleum fuel alternatives; and (25)an aggressive effort to advance technology for conversion of biomass to fuel and products is warranted.

3.

Definitions

In this Act: (1)

Department

The term Department means the Department of Agriculture. (2)

Secretary

The term Secretary means the Secretary of Agriculture.