Food before Fuel Act

Bill: 117-hr-7484
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Rice, Tom [R-SC-7]
Introduced: 2022-04-07
Policy area: Energy
Subjects: Agricultural prices, subsidies, credit

Air quality

Alternative and renewable resources

Cardiovascular and respiratory health

Conflicts and wars

Economic performance and conditions

Emergency medical services and trauma care

Environmental Protection

Environmental regulatory procedures

Europe

Food supply, safety, and labeling

Infectious and parasitic diseases

Inflation and prices

Military operations and strategy

Motor fuels

Nutrition and diet

Russia

Ukraine
Latest action: action_date: 2022-04-08
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change.

Summaries:
action_date: 2022-04-07
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><b>Food before Fuel Act</b></p> <p>This bill revises the renewable fuel program to eliminate the annual renewable fuel standard.</p> <p>The existing standard requires 36 billion gallons of renewable fuel that is produced from renewable biomass to be blended into transportation fuel by 2022. The renewable fuel standard includes fuels that are produced from renewable biomass, such as corn.</p> <p>The bill would not affect the standards under the program for advanced biofuel, cellulosic biofuel, or biomass-based diesel.</p>

tv_txt: I 117th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 7484 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES April 7, 2022 Mr. Rice of South Carolina (for himself and Ms. Lofgren ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Clean Air Act to eliminate the corn ethanol mandate for renewable fuel.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Food before Fuel Act . 2. Findings; sense of Congress (a) Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Ukraine accounts for 16 percent of global corn exports and 12 percent of wheat exports. (2) The United States could more than compensate for the loss of Ukraine’s exports by diverting crops that are to be made into biofuels into food production instead. (3) Almost 70 percent of all United States grain production is corn, but almost half is formulated into ethanol to drive cars and trucks. (4) Converting corn into fuel happens only because of a mass of Federal regulations and subsidies that began during the Carter administration. (5) While ethanol may have small environmental advantages over gasoline, the benefits are nullified by ethanol’s toll on world food output. (b) Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that the Federal Government should not be incentivizing farmers to grow corn for ethanol while Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is jeopardizing the lives of Ukraine’s citizens and is on track to cause a severe malnutrition across the world. As this supply is cut off, food prices which are already at record levels, will increase at a time when the economic fallout from the pandemic is already harming household budgets, particularly in low-income countries. 3. Elimination of corn ethanol mandate for renewable fuel (a) Removal of table Section 211(o)(2)(B)(i) of the Clean Air Act ( 42 U.S.C. 7545(o)(2)(B)(i) ) is amended by striking subclause (I). (b) Conforming amendments Section 211(o)(2)(B) of the Clean Air Act ( 42 U.S.C. 7545(o)(2)(B) ) is amended— (1) in clause (i)— (A) by redesignating subclauses (II) through (IV) as subclauses (I) through (III), respectively; (B) in subclause (I) (as so redesignated), by striking of the volume of renewable fuel required under subclause (I), ; and (C) in subclauses (II) and (III) (as so redesignated), by striking subclause (II) each place it appears and inserting subclause (I) ; and (2) in clause (v), by striking clause (i)(IV) and inserting clause (i)(III) . (c) Administration Nothing in this section or the amendments made by this section affects the volumes of advanced biofuel, cellulosic biofuel, or biomass-based diesel that are required under section 211(o) of the Clean Air Act ( 42 U.S.C. 7545(o) ).