BCAP safe, for now

Ethanol Producer Magazine
December 2010
By Anna Austin
Posted Dec. 20, 2010

The biomass industry is heaving a sigh of relief for now, since the 2,000-page, $1.1 trillion 2011 Omnibus Appropriations Act will not go to vote in the Senate in its current form. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., announced Thursday night he would not bring the omnibus to the floor. The bill not only lacked Republican support, but faced opposition from some anti-earmark Democrats. All Democratic votes and two Republican votes were needed for passage.

The biomass industry has been in a state of panic because a section in the omnibus bill essentially stripped the Biomass Crop Assistance Program of its funding, as well as the Biorefinery Assistance program and Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels. The industry has been scrambling for the past week to get the provision modified or eliminated, and though safe for now, the fight to keep BCAP funding in the bill will resume next year.

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