Will County's Federal Legislative Agenda Committee debated and removed a proposed, longer renewable-fuel paragraph Sept. 11 after land use staff and several members argued the key point is protecting the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) to preserve county revenue from the county's renewable natural gas (RNG) facility.

Land use staff told the committee the Nelson? county submission (page citations provided in staff materials) contains updated, technical language and graphs about the RFS and recommended stronger federal RFS volume goals so the county can realize expected RIN-based revenue. "Most importantly, we need to make sure the RFS or Renewable Fuel Standard program is protected," a land use staff member said.

Several members also discussed the RNG plant's financial performance. Committee members reported past operating losses (members discussed cumulative multimillion-dollar losses and projections to break even) but land use staff said the plant generates revenue used for bond payments and recommended federal policy that would increase Renewable Identification Number (RIN) production to support projected revenues.

Other members expressed policy skepticism about parts of the removed paragraph: some said the section's emphasis on solar and wind was inconsistent with local legal challenges to solar projects, and one member raised broader objections to climate policy language, including references to climate strategies.

The committee informally removed the longer redlined text in favor of the land use department's proposed additions (to be considered in the separate department submissions), and a sponsor asked that standalone language be moved into the land use/department proposals for the full agenda. No formal vote on a final RFS sentence was recorded in the meeting; staff indicated the land use submission will carry the county's technical language forward.

Ending: The committee agreed to handle renewable fuel and RFS language through the land use department's submitted proposal; staff will insert the department's updated RFS language into the packet for the full board review.