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December 6, 2013
A weekly look at sustainable bioenergy, farm, and forest policy issues
RFS and Farm Bill Developments
Things are moving fast in the bioenergy field. Thursday saw intense lobbying by supporters and opponents of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) during a day-long session organized by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Meanwhile, Farm Bill negotiators are increasingly confident that an agreement will be reached before the current bill expires in a little less than a month.
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USDA Launches Energy Efficiency Loan Program
The U.S. Department of Agriculture published the final rule for its new Energy Efficiency and Conservation Loan Program (EECLP) in Thursday's Federal Register. This new program, under the purview of USDA's Rural Utilities Service (RUS), provides an initial $250 million per year in federal loans and financial assistance to support energy efficiency programs operated by rural electric cooperatives and other rural utilities, of which there are more than 900 throughout the United States. The program took inspiration from "Help My House," an on-bill financing pilot program run by The Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina and Central Electric Power Cooperative, with support from EESI.
Writer: Amaury Laporte
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