Committee considers one‑word technical fix to bioincentive statute to restore advanced biofuel eligibility

Chair Anderson presented House File 1500, which would insert the word "advanced" into the statutory definition used by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s Bioincentive Program. Proponents said the change is a technical correction to restore legislative intent so that producers of advanced biofuels are eligible for performance‑based payments.

Brian Werner, Executive Director of the Minnesota Biofuels Association, told the committee advanced biofuel is defined as a renewable fuel with at least a 50% reduction in lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions compared with petroleum. He said some Minnesota ethanol plants that have invested to produce corn kernel fiber ethanol — which he characterized as reducing emissions by about 70% versus petroleum in lifecycle modeling — had been denied entry to the program after a 2023 drafting error removed the word "advanced" from the statutory definition.

Werner explained qualification requirements for the bioincentive program as described to the committee: a producer must expand or retrofit capacity specifically to produce advanced biofuel, be located in Minnesota, source 80% of biomass in‑state, and not have produced more than a statutory production cap for advanced biofuel prior to 2015 (he cited the cap equivalence of about 1,240,000 gallons per year). He said the 2023 drafting omission had unintentionally caused the department to interpret the cap against overall biofuel production rather than new advanced biofuel production.

Committee members asked clarifying questions about evidence of emissions reductions and whether the reductions cited were modeled or monitored; Werner said the 70% figure is based on lifecycle modeling.

Ending: Chair Anderson said the bill would be laid over and the committee complied; the record includes a letter from the Bioeconomy Coalition of Minnesota supporting the change.