Biomass Credit Update: A Look at BCAP’s Past and Future Impact

PalletEnterprise.com
By DeAnna Stephens Baker
Date Posted: 9/1/2010

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) has still not issued the final rules for the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP), yet preparations for the reinstatement of the subsidy are already well on their way. The following is a look at the affect BCAP has already had on the pallet industry as well as a glimpse at technology development and business plans being put in place with the imminent release of the final BCAP rules in mind.

According to the USDA, more than $224 million in BCAP payments have been made through August of this year. The original Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) was published by the USDA in June 2009, but payments were suspended in February 2010, followed by the release of the proposed revisions to the BCAP rules. Seven months later, the waiting game continues. FSA is currently reviewing comments and drafting the final rule, which is expected to be published in the Federal Register in fall 2010. For now, the freeze put on the program in February will remain in place, as the FSA wades through the more than 24,000 comments received on the proposed rule.

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