Letter to the Hon. Paul Ryan, Speaker of the House, the Hon. Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Minority Leader, the Hon. Kevin McCarthy, Majority Leader, the Hon. Steny Hoyer, Democratic Whip - Restoring biodiesel tax credit

Letter

Dear Speaker Ryan, Leader Pelosi, Leader McCarthy and Whip Hoyer:

As we near the end of the First Session of the 115th Congress, we want to thank you for your important work on strengthening the economy for the American people.

One issue important to us is extending the tax credit for biodiesel, which lapsed at the end of 2016. If this issue is not addressed in the final version of the comprehensive tax relief bill, we strongly support inclusion of this extension in another legislative vehicle before the end of this calendar year.

Biodiesel has been and continues to be a great success story. Economically it has helped our farmers and rural communities across the country. It has also helped broaden the diversity of our fuel sources to help us become more energy independent as a nation. This industry creates jobs and is good for the environment.

This growing industry has exceeded established volume requirements despite the uncertainty created by the on-again and off-again nature of tax credit eligibility for biodiesel. This important provision continues to lapse periodically, creating investment and price uncertainty in the sector.

With that in mind, we ask for a multi-year, retroactive extension that will create the certainty necessary to help this industry, and therefore our economy, continue to grow. Other energy tax credits have received this type of a multi-year treatment, such as wind and solar. We urge a similar approach for the biodiesel tax credit, which will provide industry the certainty necessary to continue moving toward self-sustenance.

We look forward to working with you in the coming weeks to resolve this issue of great importance to us and our constituents.