BIO'S Letter to House Appropriations Agriculture Committee re Section 9003 of the Agricultural Act of 2014
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On behalf of the biotechnology industry we are writing to encourage your support of full funding of Section 9003 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (Public Law 113-79), the Biorefinery, Renewable Chemical, and Biobased Manufacturing Assistance Program, as you develop the Fiscal Year 2016 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.</p>
Dear Chairman Moran, Chairman Aderholt, Ranking Member Merkley, and Ranking Member Farr:
On behalf of the biotechnology industry we are writing to encourage your support of full funding of Section 9003 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (Public Law 113-79), the Biorefinery, Renewable Chemical, and Biobased Manufacturing Assistance Program, as you develop the Fiscal Year 2016 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.
Industrial biotechnology is enabling the production of a new generation of renewable chemicals and biobased products produced from biomass, which can supplement or replace traditional fossil fuel-based chemicals; expanding a biorefinery’s capability beyond biofuels; facilitating the evolution of fully integrated biorefineries. Section 9003 is a key Farm Bill provision to help grow the 21st Century biobased economy, creating high value careers and new income streams for American farmers, which will accelerate the commercialization of renewable chemicals and biobased products and will instigate building stand-alone renewable chemical manufacturing facilities.
We recognize the current constraints on government spending. However, funding this crucial program will allow pre-revenue and emerging American industrial biotechnology companies focused on developing environmentally cleaner processes for renewable chemicals and biobased products to qualify for U.S. Department of Agriculture’s loan guarantees, which will promote investment and domestic production of these innovative products.We have already seen examples of renewable chemical companies being developed in every region of the country; such as, Sweetwater Energy and Penford in Wisconsin; Verdezyne, Biosynthetic Technologies, Rennovia, and Solazyme in California; Rivertop Renewables and Blue Marble Biomaterials in Montana; Elevance Renewable Sciences in Mississippi and Illinois; Evolva in Kentucky; Gevo and Cool Planet in Colorado; and Renmatix in Georgia.
