Presidential Documents

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 87 / Thursday, May 7, 2009 / Presidential Documents 21531 

Memorandum of May 5, 2009 

Biofuels And Rural Economic Development 

Memorandum for the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Energy, 

[and] the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 

In the Nation’s ongoing efforts to achieve energy independence, biomass 

and biofuels promise to play a key role by providing the Nation with 

homegrown sustainable energy options and energizing our economy with 

new industries and jobs. While producing clean renewable fuels locally 

is a powerful engine of economic growth, they must be developed and 

used in a way that limits environmental impact. Today, the Environmental 

Protection Agency (EPA) is issuing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, as 

required by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, to set 

new national renewable fuel standards and implement those standards. The 

public will have an opportunity to provide input on this proposal through 

a 60-day comment period, and the EPA is conducting peer reviews on 

key aspects of the environmental impact assessments within the proposal. 

In order to shepherd our Nation’s development of this important industry 

and to coordinate interagency policy, I hereby establish a Biofuels Interagency 

Working Group (Working Group), to be co-chaired by the Secretaries of 

Agriculture and Energy and the Administrator of the EPA. This Working 

Group will coordinate with the National Science and Technology Council’s 

Biomass Research and Development Board in undertaking its work. The 

responsibilities of the Working Group shall include: 

(a) Developing the Nation’s first comprehensive biofuel market development program, which shall use existing authorities and identify new policies 

to support the development of next-generation biofuels, increase flexible 

fuel vehicle use, and assist in retail marketing efforts; 

(b) Coordinating infrastructure policies affecting the supply, secure transport, and distribution of biofuels; and 

(c) Identifying new policy options to promote the environmental sustainability of biofuels feedstock production, taking into consideration land use, 

habitat conservation, crop management practices, water efficiency and water 

quality, as well as lifecycle assessments of greenhouse gas emissions. 

Alongside the Working Group’s efforts, the Secretary of Agriculture may 

pursue other important biofuel development efforts. The Rural Development 

Act of 1972 and the Rural Development Policy Act of 1980 direct the 

Secretary of Agriculture to develop, in coordination with State and local 

governments, a nationwide rural development program to assure rural America’s health and prosperity. In keeping with that mandate, and recognizing 

the key role rural America will play in the development of biofuel technology 

and development, I request that the Secretary of Agriculture take the following steps, to the extent permitted by law: 

(a) Immediately begin restructuring existing investments in renewable fuels 

as needed to preserve industry employment; and 

(b) Develop a comprehensive approach to accelerating the investment in 

and production of American biofuels and reducing our dependence on fossil 

fuels by providing, within 30 days, under the authorities made available 

in the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008: 

21532 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 87 / Thursday, May 7, 2009 / Presidential Documents 

(i) Loan guarantees for the development, construction, and retrofitting 

of commercial-scale biorefineries and grants to help pay for the development and construction costs of demonstration-scale biorefineries; 

(ii) Expedited funding to encourage biorefineries to replace the use of 

fossil fuels in plant operations by installing new biomass energy systems 

or producing new energy from renewable biomass; 

(iii) Expedited funding to biofuels producers to encourage production 

of next-generation biofuels from cellulosic biomass and other feedstocks; 

(iv) Expansion of the Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency 

Improvements Program, which has been renamed the Rural Energy for 

America Program, to include hydroelectric source technologies, energy 

audits, and higher loan guarantee limits; and 

(v) Guidance and support for collection, harvest, storage, and transportation 

assistance for eligible materials for use in biomass conversion facilities. 

This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or 

benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any 

party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its 

officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. 

The Secretary of Agriculture is hereby authorized and directed to publish 

this memorandum in the Federal Register. 

THE WHITE HOUSE, 

Washington, May 5, 2009 

[FR Doc. E9–10861 

Filed 5–6–09; 8:45 am] 

Billing code 3410–10–P 


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