Administration Proposes Disappointing Renewable Energy Agriculture
and DOE Biomass Budget for Fiscal Year 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C., On February 4, 2007 the Administration released its proposed budget for fiscal year FY09.

The Administration’s budget requests $95 billion for the US Department of Agriculture (USDA); this is nearly $6
billion more than the Administration’s FY08 funding request. This includes $72 billion of mandatory funding for programs required by law (nutrition, commodity, etc.) and $23 billion for discretionary programs (rural development, research, etc.)

USDA renewable energy and biomass programs received only $29.4 million in the Administration’s FY09 budget request.

Department of Agriculture (in millions)

* None of the programs are authorized for FY08 or FY09.  The farm bill is now awaiting a Conference Agreement between the House and Senate. ** Funding included in OCE budget.

One of the most popular energy programs in the 2002 farm bill (Farm Security and Rural Development Act of 2002, P.L. 107- 171), Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Improvements Program (Sec. 9006), receives zero in the Administration’s budget. This is a decrease of $36 million from the FY08 funding level.

The Value-Added Agricultural Product Market Development Grants program (Sec. 6401) had an original authorization of $40 million but received nothing from Administration’s FY09 budget. For FY08 this program received an appropriation of $19 million. (This includes a range of renewable energy and value-added technologies and practices.)

The Biomass Research and Development Act of 2000 (Sec. 9008) is now authorized at $200 million (discretionary funds) each year in Sec. 941 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005and was again zeroed out in the Administration’s budget request.

The CCC Bioenergy Program (Sec. 9010) was completely eliminated from the Administration’s proposed budget starting in FY07; this reflects the expiration of the program’s authorization.

The Biodiesel Fuel Education Program (Sec. 9004) has authorization through FY07 and did not receive funding in the Administration’s budget.

There was no direct mention of the Federal Procurement of Biobased Products program (Sec. 9002). However, several other departments within USDA include biofuels and products research initiatives:

• Within the $13 million budget for the Office of the Chief Economist (OCE, funds for analysis of biofuels, new uses of agriculture products and global climate change are included. This includes an increase of $1.5 million to support USDA’s international discussions on climate change.
• The National Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS) budget includes $1.8 million “to establish a data series on key elements of bioenergy production and utilization.”
• Economic Research Service (ERS) budget includes $0.4  million to analyze regional impacts of bioenergy and evaluate issues related to transportation networks, feedstock storage, marketing channels, and shifts in commodity production.”
• Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service’s (CSREES) National Research Initiative includes $19 million for the Department’s bioenergy and biobased fuels research initiative.
• Agriculture Research Service (ARS) budget includes $5.9  million to be directed for “ renewable energy research to more effectively develop and use energy crops and crop residues”  for more biofuel production.
• The Grain Inspection, Packers, and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) includes a request for  $0.8 million “to help facilitate the marketing of wheat, soybeans, grains used for ethanol, and ethanol co-products by developing new quality-test measures.”

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The Administration’s budget request for the US Department of Energy (DOE) calls for $1.3 billion for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, including $225 million for Biomass and Biorefinery Systems R&D.

Department of Energy (in millions)

The DOE’s proposed budget for FY09 included just $225 million for its Biomass and Biorefinery Systems R&D
Program. This is an increase of $27 million over the Administration’s FY08 proposed budget, but a decrease of $49 million from the DOE Bioenergy program’s authorized level of (Sec. 932) $274 million. This includes the important Integrated Biorefinery Demonstration Projects (Sec. 932(d)), just one of the EPAct ’05 programs.  The Administration’s proposed budget includes: feedstock infrastructure; platforms research and development; and utilization of platform outputs R&D.

USDA Budget Release

DOE Budget Release

PDF of EESI Release

If you have questions, please contact Jetta Wong at jwong@eesi.org or (202) 662-1885.