USDA accepting applications for loan guarantee program

The USDA’s Rural Business-Cooperative Service has announced it is soliciting applications for the Biorefinery, Renewable Chemical, and Biobased Product Manufacturing Assistance Program. Formerly known as the Biorefinery Assistance Program, the program was expanded by the 2014 Farm Bill to apply to biorefineries that primarily produced renewable chemicals and other biobased products, in addition to biofuels.

According to the USDA, the program provides guaranteed loans to fund the development, construction and retrofitting of commercial-scale biorefineries using eligible technology, and of biobased product manufacturing facilities that use technically new commercial-scale processing and manufacturing equipment to convert renewable chemicals and other biobased outputs of biorefineries into end-user products on a commercial-scale.

In a Federal Register notice, the USDA has indicated two different applications cycles for the program are being set. The deadline for the first cycle is Oct. 1, with the deadline for the second application cycle set for April 1, 2016.

The USDA published a final rule for the Biorefinery, Renewable Chemical, and Biobased Product Manufacturing Assistance Program in June. 

The initial version of the program funded a variety of biorefinery projects. Sapphire Energy was awarded the first loan guarantee under the program in 2009. The Fremont Community Digester and Ineos New Planet Bioenergy received awards in 2011, while Fulcrum Sierra Biofuels LLC and Cool Planet were each awarded loan guarantees in late 2014.

Additional information on the Biorefinery, Renewable Chemical, and Biobased Product Manufacturing Assistance Program and application instructions are available on the Federal Register website.