WASHINGTON, DC – On Wednesday, the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy and Research held a hearing to review the impact of the indirect land use and renewable biomass provisions in the renewable fuel standard.

"We are very upset with the path EPA has taken us down and sent that message back loud and clear in today's hearing," said Chairman Tim Holden of Pennsylvania. "If we continue with these provisions in EISA, we will not only harm the biofuels industry but also shortchange a large part of the country before we even get started. We need to expand the reach of biofuels, not hamper the farmer

and forest owner."

"The arbitrary restrictions in the renewable fuel standard will limit the potential biomass to meet the renewable fuels mandate. I am in favor of the development of advanced renewable fuels, but more importantly I am in favor of developing a policy that allows the market to develop next generation renewable energy," said Subcommittee Ranking Member Bob Goodlatte of Virginia.

In December 2007, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) greatly expanded the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and required that all biofuels produced from facilities built after the enactment achieve a reduction in lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions.

The law also contains restrictions in the definition of "renewable biomass" that limit the eligibility of feedstocks from federal lands as well as private forestlands.

On Tuesday, the Environmental Protection Agency released its proposed rule for the implementation of the new RFS and opened the period for public comment.

The rule calculates the lifecycle emissions of each fuel, relative to the gasoline or diesel fuel it would replace, and includes emissions from all stages of production. In this process, biofuels are charged with emissions from indirect land use, while gasoline is not.

The provisions discussed Wednesday were last minute additions to EISA that were never debated, and members of the Committee have worked to get them changed for the past two years.

This is the second hearing the subcommittee has held on implementation of the RFS. In the first, held in July of last year, Members discussed the renewable biomass and agriculture producer eligibility.

The opening statements of all witnesses are available on the committee Web site at http://agriculture.house.gov/hearings/index.html.

A full transcript of the hearing will be posted on the committee Web site at a later date.

Witness List:

Panel I

– Dr. Joe Glauber, Chief Economist, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.

– Ms. Margo T. Oge, Director, Office of Transportation and Air Quality, Office of Air and Radiation, U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency, Washington, D.C.

Panel II

– Dr. Bruce A. Babcock, Director, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa

– Mr. R. Brooke Coleman, Executive Director, New Fuels Alliance, Boston, Massachusetts

– Mr. Nick Bowdish, General Manager, Platinum Ethanol, Arthur, Iowa

– Mr. Manning Feraci, Vice President of Fedearl Affairs, National Biodiesel Board, Washington, D.C.

– Mr. Michael Pechart, Deputy Secretary for Marketing and Economic Development, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

– Ms. Anitra Webster, family forest owner, on behalf of American Forest Foundation, Lynchburg, Virginia.