House Farm Bill Mark-Up Next Week: Continued Progress in Bioenergy and Renewable Energy at Stake

July 6, 2012

Representative Frank Lucas (R-OK), Chair of the House Committee on Agriculture, and Representative Collin Peterson (D-MN), the ranking member, have introduced their draft of the next Farm Bill. It would provide no mandatory funding for rural bioenergy or other renewable energy programs.

On July 5, the chair and ranking member released their "discussion draft" of the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act (FARRM) , a bill to reauthorize the nation’s nutritional assistance, food, conservation, and agriculture programs for the next five years, 2013-2017. You can read a summary of it here . The Agriculture Committee is scheduled to mark up the bill on July 11. The current Farm Bill expires September 30.

The rural energy programs in Title IX of past Farm Bills have constituted a very small fraction of the total spending in the bill – less than one percent. However, when this relatively small public investment has been compounded by much larger, matching private investments, then the impact of these programs becomes much more significant, advancing job creation, economic development, environmental quality, and energy security. A little federal investment has gone a long way.

The following chart offers a comparison between the 2008 Farm Bill authorization for energy programs , the Senate-passed 2012 Farm Bill , the House discussion draft, and the energy title marker bill (H.R. 5955) introduced by Representative Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) ( See our June 22 SBFF post ).

Farm Bill Energy Programs	08 Enacted	08 Enacted	Senate	Senate	House	House	Kaptur	Kaptur
	Mandatory	Discretionary	Mandatory	Discretionary	Mandatory	Discretionary	Mandatory	Discretionary
	$ Millions	$ Millions	$ Millions	$ Millions	$ Millions	$ Millions	$ Millions	$ Millions
Biobased Markets Program	9	8	15	10	0	10	20	20
Biorefinery Assistance	320	600	216	750	0	375	375	375
Repowering Assistance	35	60	repeal	repeal	repeal	repeal	repeal	repeal
Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels	300	100	0	100	0	250	0	0
Biodiesel Fuel Education Program	0	5	5	5	0	10	5	5
Rural Energy for America Program	255	100	241	100	0	225	350	350
Biomass Research and Development	118	140	130	150	0	100	150	150
Biomass Crop Assistance Program	ssan*	0	193	0	0	375	350	350
Forest Biomass for Energy	0	60	repeal	repeal	repeal	repeal	0	75
Community Wood Energy	0	20	0	25	0	10	0	25

Total	1037	1093	800	1140	0	1355	1250	1350

*Such Sums as Necessary

Almost all of the money that was invested in energy programs over the past five years under the current 2008 Farm Bill was mandatory funding. Very little of the discretionary funding that was authorized in the 2008 Farm Bill was actually appropriated by the appropriations committee. Prospects for future annual appropriations of discretionary funds are even bleaker. If progress in rural bioenergy and other energy efficiency and renewable energy initiatives is to continue, mandatory funding is key.