Today, the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) welcomes the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) interim final rule “Technical Guidelines for Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) Crops Used for Biofuel Feedstocks,” to help create meaningful opportunities for farmers and biofuel producers through the implementation of sustainable practices. USDA also issued a Feedstock Carbon Intensity Calculator (USDA-FD-CIC) to quantify greenhouse gas emissions per bushel from corn and other domestic feedstock crops.
USDA’s rule aligns with ACE’s feedback to the department and our commitment to promote climate-smart farming practices and improving the procedures for quantifying, reporting and verifying their effect so farmers and biofuel producers get properly rewarded under clean fuel programs, including the 45Z Clean Fuel Production tax credit. The rule mentions ACE’s Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) projects, which will serve as a valuable resource to inform updated greenhouse gas (GHG) credit values for CSA practices, improving the accuracy of GREET and addressing perceived “information gaps” currently preventing farmers and ethanol producers from monetizing CSA practices in regulated markets.
While the Trump Treasury Department holds ultimate authority in crafting final guidance for the 45Z tax credit, ACE welcomes USDA lending its expertise to how CSA practices are handled to help provide a strong foundation for ensuring clean fuel programs reward innovative, verifiable sustainability efforts.
ACE CEO Brian Jennings expressed gratitude for USDA’s leadership, stating:
"We commend Secretary Vilsack and the Office of Chief Economist for taking critical steps to support farmers and biofuel producers in achieving verifiable carbon reductions through climate-smart practices. We’re pleased to see greater flexibility for farmers, including the stacking of practices and a departure from the all-or-none bundled approach previously required under 40B. ACE looks forward to continuing our collaboration with USDA and the Treasury Department as it finalizes the 45Z Clean Fuel Production tax credit under the incoming administration, ensuring these efforts are accurately recognized and rewarded.
“The ACE-led USDA-Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) Regional Conservation Partnership Programs (RCPPs) are designed to help improve the accuracy of the GREET model, and we look forward to partnering with Argonne scientists and USDA, particularly in how climate-smart agriculture crops are calculated under GREET and USDA’s new feedstock carbon intensity tool, to ensure farmers and ethanol producers can maximize on 45Z and future programs.”
USDA is requesting public comment on the interim rule to help inform future revisions or additions to the final rule until March 18.
In related news, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory issued its updated Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Technologies (GREET) model (45ZCF-GREET), following the U.S. Treasury Department’s Friday announcement with preliminary 45Z guidance.
“Since 45Z is based on lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions, every single point of carbon intensity has value, which makes it essential to get the details around modifications to the GREET model right, and we also thank the Department of Energy scientists for continuing to evolve this gold-standard lifecycle modeling tool,” Jennings added.