[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2987 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2987

To amend the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to improve 
  biorefinery, renewable chemical, and biobased product manufacturing 
                  assistance, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

           September 28 (legislative day, September 22), 2023

  Ms. Klobuchar (for herself and Mr. Moran) introduced the following 
      bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                  Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to improve 
  biorefinery, renewable chemical, and biobased product manufacturing 
                  assistance, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Agricultural Biorefinery Innovation 
and Opportunity Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. BIOREFINERY, RENEWABLE CHEMICAL, AND BIOBASED PRODUCT 
              MANUFACTURING ASSISTANCE.

    Section 9003 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 
(7 U.S.C. 8103) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), in the matter preceding paragraph 
        (1), by striking ``to assist'' and inserting ``to develop 
        advanced biofuels (which, for purposes of this section, shall 
        include ultra-low-carbon bioethanol and zero-carbon 
        bioethanol), renewable chemicals, and biobased product 
        manufacturing and assist'';
            (2) in subsection (b)(1)--
                    (A) by striking ``technologically new''; and
                    (B) by striking ``end-user products'' and inserting 
                ``end-user products, renewable chemicals, and biobased 
                products'';
            (3) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) by striking ``The Secretary shall make 
                available to eligible entities guarantees'' and 
                inserting the following: ``Subject to the availability 
                of funding, the Secretary shall make available to 
                eligible entities--
            ``(1) on a year-round basis, guarantees'';
                    (B) in paragraph (1) (as so designated), by 
                striking the period at the end and inserting ``, in 
                accordance with subsection (d); and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) grants, on a competitive basis, to develop, 
        construct, or retrofit pilot or demonstration-scale 
        biorefineries to demonstrate the commercial viability of 1 or 
        more processes for converting renewable biomass to advanced 
        biofuels, renewable chemicals, and biobased products in 
        accordance with subsection (e).'';
            (4) in subsection (d)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)--
                            (i) by striking subparagraphs (A) and (C);
                            (ii) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) and 
                        (D) as subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively;
                            (iii) in subparagraph (A) (as so 
                        redesignated)--
                                    (I) by striking ``In approving a 
                                loan guarantee application'' and 
                                inserting the following:
                            ``(i) In general.--In approving an 
                        application for a loan guarantee under 
                        subsection (c)(1)''; and
                                    (II) by adding at the end the 
                                following:
                            ``(ii) Waiver.--The Secretary may waive the 
                        feasibility study under clause (i) for proven 
                        or otherwise commercially available 
                        technologies.''; and
                            (iv) in subparagraph (B) (as so 
                        redesignated), by striking ``loan guarantee 
                        applications'' and inserting ``applications for 
                        loan guarantees under subsection (c)(1)''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 
                        ``$250,000,000'' and inserting ``10 percent of 
                        the total amount made available under 
                        subsection (g) for the fiscal year in which the 
                        loan is guaranteed;''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``subsection (c)'' each 
                        place it appears and inserting ``subsection 
                        (c)(1)'';
            (5) by redesignating subsection (e) as subsection (k);
            (6) by inserting after subsection (d) the following:
    ``(e) Grants.--
            ``(1) Selection criteria.--
                    ``(A) In general.--In approving applications for 
                grants under subsection (c)(2), the Secretary shall 
                establish a priority scoring system that assigns 
                priority scores to each application and only approve 
                applications that exceed a specified minimum score, as 
                determined by the Secretary.
                    ``(B) Feasibility.--
                            ``(i) In general.--In approving an 
                        application for a grant under subsection 
                        (c)(2), the Secretary shall determine the 
                        technical and economic feasibility of the 
                        project based on a feasibility study of the 
                        project described in the application conducted 
                        by an independent third party.
                            ``(ii) Waiver.--The Secretary may waive the 
                        feasibility study under clause (i) for proven 
                        or otherwise commercially available 
                        technologies.
                    ``(C) Scoring system.--The priority scoring system 
                established under subparagraph (A) shall consider, with 
                respect to a project proposed in an application for a 
                grant under subsection (c)(2)--
                            ``(i) the potential market for the advanced 
                        biofuel, renewable chemical, or biobased 
                        product, and the byproducts produced under the 
                        project;
                            ``(ii) the level of financial participation 
                        by the eligible entity, including support from 
                        non-Federal and private sources;
                            ``(iii) whether the eligible entity is 
                        proposing to use--
                                    ``(I) a feedstock not previously 
                                used in the production of advanced 
                                biofuels; or
                                    ``(II) a feedstock, process, or 
                                technology in an innovative manner in 
                                the production of renewable chemicals 
                                or biobased products;
                            ``(iv) whether the eligible entity is 
                        proposing to work with producer associations or 
                        cooperatives;
                            ``(v) whether the eligible entity has 
                        established that the adoption of the process 
                        proposed in the application will have a 
                        positive impact on resource conservation, 
                        public health, and the environment;
                            ``(vi) the potential for rural economic 
                        development;
                            ``(vii) whether the project can be 
                        replicated;
                            ``(viii) scalability for commercial use; 
                        and
                            ``(ix) in the case of an advanced biofuels 
                        project, the contribution of the project to 
                        domestic energy security.
            ``(2) Cost sharing.--
                    ``(A) Limits.--The amount of a grant awarded under 
                subsection (c)(2) shall not exceed an amount that is 60 
                percent of the cost of the project carried out using 
                the grant.
                    ``(B) Non-federal share.--The non-Federal share of 
                the cost of a project may be provided in the form of 
                cash or material, subject to the condition that the 
                material provided does not exceed 30 percent of the 
                non-Federal share.'';
            (7) in subsection (g)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (A)--
                                    (I) in the matter preceding clause 
                                (i), by inserting ``and grants'' after 
                                ``loan guarantees'';
                                    (II) in clause (iii), by striking 
                                ``and'' at the end;
                                    (III) in clause (iv), by striking 
                                the period at the end and inserting ``; 
                                and''; and
                                    (IV) by adding at the end the 
                                following:
                            ``(v) $40,000,000 for each of fiscal years 
                        2024 through 2028.''; and
                            (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``Of 
                        the total'' and all that follows through 
                        ``subparagraph (A)'' and inserting ``Of the 
                        total amount of funds made available for each 
                        of fiscal years 2024 through 2028 under 
                        subparagraph (A)''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ``2023'' and 
                inserting ``2028'';
            (8) in subsection (h)(1), by striking ``subsections (a) 
        through (e), and (g)'' and inserting ``subsections (a) through 
        (e), (g), and (k)'';
            (9) in subsection (i)(1), by striking ``subsections (a) 
        through (e) and subsection (g)'' and inserting ``subsections 
        (a) through (e), (g), and (k)''; and
            (10) in subsection (j)(1), by striking ``subsections (a) 
        through (e) and (g)'' and inserting ``subsections (a) through 
        (e), (g), and (k)''.
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