II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1813 

To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to provide individuals with an 

opportunity to participate in the financing or ownership of local biorefineries. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 18 (legislative day, JULY 17), 2007 

Mr. COLEMAN (for himself and Mr. FEINGOLD) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to provide individuals with an opportunity to participate in the financing 

or ownership of local biorefineries. 

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

3 SECTION 1. LOCAL OWNERSHIP OF BIOREFINERIES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of title II of the En5 ergy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15851 et seq.) is 

6 amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 212. LOCAL OWNERSHIP OF BIOREFINERIES. 

8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with BILLS
2 

•S 1813 IS

1 ‘‘(1) BIOREFINERY.—The term ‘biorefinery’ has 

2 the meaning given the term in section 9003(b) of 

3 the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 

4 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8103(b)). 

5 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE PURCHASER.—The term ‘eligible 

6 purchaser’, with respect to a biorefinery, means— 

7 ‘‘(A) a natural person with a principal resi8 dence that is located not more than 50 miles 

9 from the biorefinery; or 

10 ‘‘(B) a farmer or rancher cooperative. 

11 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENT.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraphs (2) 

13 and (3), in the case of a biorefinery that is financed, 

14 refinanced, or financially supported, in whole or in 

15 part, using a loan, loan guarantee, or grant made by 

16 a Federal agency on or after the date of enactment 

17 of this section, as a condition of the receipt of the 

18 loan, loan guarantee, or grant, the recipient shall 

19 provide eligible purchasers with an opportunity to 

20 participate in the financing or ownership of the bio21 refinery in accordance with this section. 

22 ‘‘(2) FARMERS AND RANCHER COOPERA23 TIVES.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the recipient of a 

25 loan, loan guarantee, or grant made by a FedVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:04 Jul 24, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1813.IS S1813

jlentini on PROD1PC65 with BILLS
3 

•S 1813 IS

1 eral agency under paragraph (1) is a farmer or 

2 rancher cooperative, the requirement described 

3 in paragraph (1) is fulfilled. 

4 ‘‘(B) AUTHORITY OF FARMER AND RANCH5 ER COOPERATIVE.—A farmer or rancher coop6 erative described in subparagraph (A) may pro7 vide eligible purchasers with an opportunity to 

8 participate in the financing or ownership of the 

9 biorefinery in accordance with this section. 

10 ‘‘(3) LEVEL OF FEDERAL SUPPORT.—Para11 graph (1) shall apply to a biorefinery only if not less 

12 than 3 percent of the total amount of funds that is 

13 used to finance, refinance, or financially support the 

14 biorefinery is derived from Federal funds. 

15 ‘‘(c) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—To be eligible to re16 ceive a loan, loan guarantee, or grant from a Federal 

17 agency in connection with a biorefinery, the recipient— 

18 ‘‘(1) during the 60-day period beginning on the 

19 date of receipt of the loan, loan guarantee, or grant 

20 by the recipient, shall permit eligible purchasers to 

21 participate in the financing or ownership of the bio22 refinery on the conditions that— 

23 ‘‘(A) eligible purchasers, collectively, be al24 lowed to invest not less than 40 percent of the 

25 projected total amount of non-Federal funds 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with BILLS
4 

•S 1813 IS

1 that will be used to construct or expand the bio2 refinery; and 

3 ‘‘(B) an individual eligible purchaser be al4 lowed to invest not more than 2.5 percent of 

5 the projected total amount of non-Federal 

6 funds that will be used to construct or expand 

7 the biorefinery; 

8 ‘‘(2) shall provide to eligible purchasers com9 petitive terms and conditions that are no less favor10 able than the terms and conditions that are offered 

11 for funding for similar recipients or classes of recipi12 ents or, if there are no similar recipients or classes 

13 of recipients, other entities with similar risk charac14 teristics, as determined by the Secretary; 

15 ‘‘(3) if the amount of funding offered by eligible 

16 purchasers for a biorefinery exceeds the amount that 

17 is solicited by a recipient, may— 

18 ‘‘(A) accept all such offered amounts; or 

19 ‘‘(B) award the amounts on a competitive 

20 basis; and 

21 ‘‘(4) shall conduct the financing or refinancing 

22 of the biorefinery in accordance with Federal law 

23 (including Federal law governing securities).’’. 

Æ 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with BILLS