There is a saying that there are two things the public shouldn’t know how they are made – sausage and laws. In recent weeks the farm bill and energy bill certainly illustrate the latter. By watching the development and progress of these bills, you realize that what goes on in Washington and what you learned in junior high civics have no correlation.
The farm bill, officially titled the “Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002,” does have an energy title that authorizes and extends the current Bioenergy Program (see February Render, page 14). It also puts in statute the definition of biomass to include rendered products for this program. This is a win for renderers who have fought long and hard to be included in the definition.
The farm bill provides a total of $405 million for various biodiesel programs including research, education, and loan and grant programs. It certainly recognizes the potential role of renewable fuels. The energy bill, while not complete yet, does have some very interesting aspects for renderers. The current status is that both the House and Senate have passed their own versions of an energy bill. The House-passed bill, which was done in the summer of 2001, is essentially the president’s proposal. The Senate recently passed a bill that is quite a bit different.
Of interest to renderers should be the recognition of biodiesel. The Senate bill provides a solution that would significantly increase the use of renewable fuels and protect air and quality. It implements a Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) that will grow to five billion gallons by 2012 and can be met by using renewable, domestic fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel.
The Senate bill includes a tax credit for biodiesel from rendered products. It provides a credit of one-half cent for every one percent of biodiesel mixture up to 20 percent. The soybean industry has a tax incentive of one cent for every one percent of mixture up to 20 percent.
As of this writing, the ink is not dry on the Senate-passed bill, so all of the details are still unknown. The House and Senate are expected to conference on their differences in late May and early June to iron out their differences. The Senate energy tax provisions have a very steep hill to climb to successfully be included in the final energy bill.
Renderers will be called on to contact their representatives and senators to seek equality with the soy oil provisions. The difference is significant and should be rectified before there is support for any tax incentive on any biodiesel. Last issue I reported that we would fight to be included. Now that we are, we need to assure equality.
Board Meeting Proves Popular
The National Renderers Association (NRA) Board of Directors and committees just concluded a very successful spring meeting in Vancouver, BC, Canada, in late April. What a perfect setting for a meeting. The attendance was the largest in recent memory. The meetings were very well attended and productive. A special thanks to the people at West Coast Reduction, Ltd., for all the courtesies and hospitality they extended to all of us.
High on the list of issues discussed was the concern of the loss of raw material for renderers. The industry is under pressure as more raw materials are being diverted to landfills, composting, burial, and incineration. In addition, we wait for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration to come forth with their advanced notices of rulemaking on the disposal of rendered products.
We have a story to tell on the advantages of rendering above all other forms of disposal. In fact, the North American Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy Coalition recently commissioned Sparks Companies to do a study on “Livestock Mortalities: Methods of Disposal and Their Potential Costs.” This report has just been completed and will be distributed to the appropriate government officials for their consideration.
Dr. Don Franco, NRA vice president for Scientific Services, has just completed a paper, “Animal Disposal – The Environmental, Animal Disease, and Public Health Related Implications: An Assessment of Options.” This paper outlines the positive aspects of rendering as compared to other options.
The irony is that rendering is the only option that is truly regulated and which provides for the safest means of disposal. With this said, we continue to see our government agencies explore and pursue even more restrictive measures for renderers while other forms of disposal go essentially unattended. You most likely will see more on this topic in future issues of Render.
Plan Ahead
It is not too soon to be thinking about attending the next NRA Annual Convention, October 22-26, 2002, in Santa Barbara, CA. Start making plans to join other industry leaders to address the important issues facing the industry.
You can’t afford not to attend if you plan to be part of the rendering industry in the future.
From the Association - June 2002 Render