USDA Releases New NOFA for Biofuel Infrastructure Partnership Grants

The Biofuels Infrastructure Partnership will offer competitive grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for state-led efforts to test and evaluate innovative and comprehensive approaches to marketing higher biofuel blends, such as E15 and E85. By increasing the availability of higher biofuel blends, the program will increase renewable energy use and support farmers and domestic jobs while reducing the demand for foreign oil.

Up to $100 million will be available to states (including state-private partnerships) based on the quality and innovation demonstrated in their proposals. Funding will be provided under Section 5(e) of USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) Charter Act. Funds made available under the partnership may only be used for infrastructure to support higher ethanol blend utilization, including:

• Blender pumps that can dispense a range of ethanol blends including E85 (new pumps or retrofit of existing pumps), capped at 75 percent CCC share per pump;
• Dedicated E15 or E85 pumps (new pumps or retrofit of existing pumps), capped at 75 percent CCC share per pump; and
• New storage tanks and related equipment associated with new facilities or additional capacity (replacement is not included), capped at 25 percent CCC share per tank.

Recipients of federal funds would typically include service/convenience stations and hypermarket fueling stations but may also include state or local governments or private entities for purposes of providing higher blends to fleet vehicles. 

For more information, contact Jennifer Satterthwaite at 803-737-0411 or visit PalmettoCleanFuels.org.