II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2155 

To amend the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to promote 

biobased manufacturing. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 5, 2012 

Ms. STABENOW (for herself, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. 

COONS, Mr. CONRAD, Mr. CASEY, Mr. TESTER, Mr. CARPER, Mr. HARKIN, and Mr. NELSON of Nebraska) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, 

and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act 

of 2002 to promote biobased manufacturing. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. DEFINITIONS. 

4 Section 9001 of the Farm Security and Rural Invest5 ment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8101) is amended— 

6 (1) in paragraph (6)— 

7 (A) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘or’’; 

8 (B) in subparagraph (D), by striking the 

9 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 


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1 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

2 ‘‘(E) renewable chemicals.’’; 

3 (2) in paragraph (7), by striking subparagraph 

4 (A) and inserting the following: 

5 ‘‘(A) converts renewable biomass into 

6 biofuels, renewable chemicals, or biobased prod7 ucts; and’’; 

8 (3) in paragraph (11), by striking ‘‘or com9 pound’’ and inserting ‘‘, compound, or renewable 

10 chemical’’; 

11 (4) by redesignating paragraphs (13) and (14) 

12 as paragraphs (14) and (15), respectively; and 

13 (5) by inserting after paragraph (12) the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(13) RENEWABLE CHEMICAL.—The term ‘re16 newable chemical’ means a monomer, polymer, plas17 tic, formulated product, or chemical substance pro18 duced from renewable biomass.’’. 

19 SEC. 2. BIOBASED MARKETS PROGRAM. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 9002 of the Farm Secu21 rity and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8102) 

22 is amended— 

23 (1) in subsection (a)— 

24 (A) in paragraph (2)(A)(i)— 


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1 (i) in subclause (I), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

2 at the end; 

3 (ii) in subclause (II)(bb), by striking 

4 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

5 and’’; and 

6 (iii) by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(III) establish a targeted 

9 biobased-only procurement require10 ment under which the procuring agen11 cy shall issue a certain number of 

12 biobased-only contracts when the pro13 curing agency is purchasing products, 

14 or purchasing services that include the 

15 use of products, that are included in 

16 a biobased product category des17 ignated by the Secretary.’’; and 

18 (B) in paragraph (3)— 

19 (i) in subparagraph (B)— 

20 (I) in clause (v)— 

21 (aa) by inserting ‘‘as deter22 mined to be necessary by the 

23 Secretary based on the avail24 ability of data,’’ before ‘‘provide 

25 information’’; and 


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1 (bb) by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

2 the end; 

3 (II) by redesignating clause (vi) 

4 as clause (vii); and 

5 (III) by inserting after clause (v) 

6 the following: 

7 ‘‘(vi) require reporting of quantities 

8 and types of biobased products purchased 

9 by procuring agencies; and’’; and 

10 (ii) by adding at the end the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(F) REQUIRED DESIGNATIONS.—Not 

13 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 

14 this subparagraph, the Secretary shall begin to 

15 designate intermediate ingredients or feedstocks 

16 and assembled and finished biobased products 

17 in the guidelines issued under this paragraph.’’; 

18 (2) in subsection (b)— 

19 (A) in paragraph (3)— 

20 (i) by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and 

21 inserting the following: 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary’’; and 

23 (ii) by adding at the end the fol24 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(B) AUDITING AND COMPLIANCE.—The 

2 Secretary may carry out such auditing and 

3 compliance activities as the Secretary deter4 mines to be necessary to ensure compliance 

5 with subparagraph (A).’’; and 

6 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(4) ASSEMBLED AND FINISHED PRODUCTS.— 

8 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

9 of this paragraph, the Secretary shall begin issuing 

10 criteria for determining which assembled and fin11 ished products may qualify to receive the label under 

12 paragraph (1).’’; 

13 (3) by redesignating subsections (d) through (h) 

14 as subsections (e) through (i), respectively; 

15 (4) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(d) OUTREACH, EDUCATION, AND PROMOTION.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may engage 

19 in outreach, educational, and promotional activities 

20 intended to increase knowledge, awareness, and ben21 efits of biobased products. 

22 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—In carrying 

23 out this subsection, the Secretary, at a minimum, 

24 may— 


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1 ‘‘(A) conduct consumer education and out2 reach (including consumer and awareness sur3 veys); 

4 ‘‘(B) conduct outreach to and support for 

5 State and local governments interested in im6 plementing biobased purchasing programs; 

7 ‘‘(C) partner with industry and nonprofit 

8 groups to produce educational and outreach 

9 materials and conduct educational and outreach 

10 events; 

11 ‘‘(D) sponsor special conferences and 

12 events to bring together buyers and sellers of 

13 biobased products; and 

14 ‘‘(E) support pilot and demonstration 

15 projects.’’; and 

16 (5) in subsection (h) (as redesignated by para17 graph (3))— 

18 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

19 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

20 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

21 (ii) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by strik22 ing the period at the end and inserting a 

23 semicolon; and 

24 (iii) by adding at the end the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(C) the progress made by other Federal 

2 agencies in compliance with the biobased pro3 curement requirements, including the quantity 

4 of purchases made; and 

5 ‘‘(D) the status of outreach, educational, 

6 and promotional activities carried out by the 

7 Secretary under subsection (d), including the 

8 attainment of specific milestones and overall re9 sults.’’; and 

10 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(3) ECONOMIC IMPACT STUDY AND REPORT.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

13 conduct a study to assess the economic impact 

14 of the biobased products industry, including— 

15 ‘‘(i) the quantity of products sold; 

16 ‘‘(ii) the value of the products; 

17 ‘‘(iii) the quantity of jobs created; 

18 ‘‘(iv) the quantity of petroleum dis19 placed; 

20 ‘‘(v) other environmental benefits; and 

21 ‘‘(vi) areas in which the use or manu22 facturing of biobased products could be 

23 more effectively used, including identifying 

24 any technical and economic obstacles and 


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1 recommending how those obstacles can be 

2 overcome. 

3 ‘‘(B) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 

4 after the date of enactment of this subpara5 graph, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a 

6 report containing the results of the study con7 ducted under subparagraph (A).’’. 

8 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

9 944(c)(2)(A) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 

10 16253(c)(2)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘section 

11 9002(h)(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 9002(b)’’. 

12 SEC. 3. BIOREFINERY, RENEWABLE CHEMICAL, AND 

13 BIOBASED PRODUCT MANUFACTURING AS14 SISTANCE. 

15 Section 9003 of the Farm Security and Rural Invest16 ment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8103) is amended— 

17 (1) in the section heading, by inserting ‘‘, RE18 NEWABLE CHEMICAL, AND BIOBASED PROD19 UCT MANUFACTURING’’ after ‘‘BIOREFINERY’’; 

20 (2) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘renewable 

21 chemicals, and biobased product manufacturing’’ 

22 after ‘‘advanced biofuels,’’; and 

23 (3) in subsection (c)— 

24 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking the pe25 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 


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1 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

2 ‘‘(3) grants and loan guarantees to fund the de3 velopment and construction of renewable chemical 

4 and biobased product manufacturing facilities.’’. 

5 SEC. 4. BIOMASS RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT. 

6 Section 9008(e) of the Farm Security and Rural In7 vestment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8108(e)) is amended— 

8 (1) in paragraph (3)— 

9 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

10 (A), by striking ‘‘3’’; 

11 (B) by striking subparagraph (A); and 

12 (C) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) 

13 and (C) as subparagraphs (A) and (B), respec14 tively; and 

15 (2) in paragraph (6)(A)(iv), by striking ‘‘(A), 

16 (B), and (C)’’ and inserting ‘‘(A) and (B)’’. 

Æ 


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