Bill Text: CA AJR21 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Chaptered

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Bill Title: Renewable Fuel Standard program: reform.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Passed) 2013-09-27 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Res. Chapter 155, Statutes of 2013. [AJR21 Detail]

Download: California-2013-AJR21-Chaptered.html

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BILL NUMBER: AJR 21	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	RESOLUTION CHAPTER  155
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  SEPTEMBER 27, 2013
	ADOPTED IN SENATE  SEPTEMBER 12, 2013
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY  SEPTEMBER 12, 2013
	AMENDED IN SENATE  SEPTEMBER 10, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Olsen
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Achadjian, Bigelow, Dahle, Eggman,
Gray, Jones, Patterson, Perea, and Salas)

                        MAY 20, 2013

   Relative to the federal Renewable Fuel Standard program.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AJR 21, Olsen. Renewable Fuel Standard program: reform.
   This measure would urge Congress to reform the Renewable Fuel
Standard program, or the United States Environmental Protection
Agency to use all available authority, to expeditiously transition
away from biofuel sources that compete with food production, as well
as implement aggressive mechanisms to promote the development of
advanced, sustainable noncrop-based fuels, including, but not limited
to, cellulosic ethanol.




   WHEREAS, The Renewable Fuel Standard program was created under the
Energy Policy Act of 2005, and established the first renewable fuel
volume mandate in the United States; and
   WHEREAS, The Energy Policy Act of 2005 required 7.5 billion
gallons of renewable fuel to be blended into gasoline by 2012 and,
under the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, the Renewable
Fuel Standard program was expanded to include diesel, in addition to
gasoline; and
   WHEREAS, The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007
increased the volume of renewable fuel required to be blended into
transportation fuel from 9 billion gallons in 2008 to 36 billion
gallons by 2022; and
   WHEREAS, The 2013 requirement of cornstarch-derived ethanol of
13.8 billion gallons represents approximately 84 percent of the total
renewable fuel mandated in the Energy Independence and Security Act
of 2007; and
   WHEREAS, At the time that the Renewable Fuel Standard program
became law, the daily price of a metric ton of corn used in biofuel
ethanol production was $99, and at the time the Energy Independence
and Security Act of 2007 became law, the daily price of a metric ton
of corn used in biofuel ethanol production had risen to nearly $180,
with the latest price of a metric ton of corn currently reported by
the United States Department of Agriculture as approximately $310,
representing an increase of over 300 percent since the inception of
the Renewable Fuel Standard program; and
   WHEREAS, The Environmental Protection Agency has determined that
as a result of the Renewable Fuel Standard program, the increase in
overall commodity prices expected as a result of the demand for
agricultural products used in biofuel production will result in an
annual increase of food costs to consumers of over $3 billion by
2022; and
   WHEREAS, Agriculture is a vital component of California's economic
livelihood with livestock, poultry and related products, accounting
for approximately 26 percent, or $12.4 billion of California's gross
agricultural cash income in 2011; and
   WHEREAS, California leads the nation in milk production with over
1.75 million dairy cows that primarily depend on feed corn; and
   WHEREAS, The loss of alternative feedstock acreage to biofuel crop
production combined with the unprecedented rise in corn prices due
to the requirements of the Renewable Fuel Standard program have
significantly contributed to the loss of dairy production capacity in
California, as represented by the 387 California dairies that have
gone out of business since 2007, with over 100 dairy farms lost in
2012 alone; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature recognize and support the
benefits from a robust and thriving agricultural sector, and join a
diverse group of businesses, industry representatives, and beef,
dairy, and poultry producers across California in urging Congress to
reform the Renewable Fuel Standard program, or the United States
Environmental Protection Agency to use all available authority, to
expeditiously transition away from biofuel sources that compete with
food production, as well as implement aggressive mechanisms to
promote the development of advanced, sustainable noncrop-based fuels,
including, but not limited to, cellulosic ethanol; and be it further

   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the
Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, to the Majority
Leader of the Senate, to the Minority Leader of the Senate, and to
each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of
the United States.