News Update

News Update
Oct. 7, 2008

USDA and DOE Release National Biofuels Action Plan

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Ed Schafer and Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Samuel Bodman today released the National Biofuels Action Plan (NBAP), an interagency plan detailing the collaborative efforts of federal agencies to accelerate the development of a sustainable biofuels industry.

“Federal leadership can provide the vision for research, industry and citizens to understand how the nation will become less dependent on foreign oil and create strong rural economies,” Secretary Schafer said. “This National Biofuels Action Plan supports the drive for biofuels growth to supply energy that is clean and affordable, and always renewable.”

The NBAP was developed in response to President Bush’s plans to change the way America fuels its transportation fleets in the 2007 State of the Union Address. The President’s “Twenty In Ten” goal calls for cutting U.S. gasoline consumption by 20% over the next 10 years by investing in renewable and alternative fuel sources, increasing vehicle efficiency and developing alternative fuel vehicles.

“The National Biofuels Action Plan is a strategic blueprint that shows us the way to meet the President’s goal of meaningful biofuels production by the year 2022,” Secretary Bodman said. “And to do it in cost-effective, environmentally-responsible ways that utilize a science-based approach to ensure the next generation of biofuels that are made primarily from feedstocks outside the food supply that are produced sustainably.”

The President’s ambitious alternative fuels production target was later followed by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) and the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act (FCEA) of 2008, which responded to the President’s “Twenty in Ten” challenge with mandatory funding of more than $1 billion for such energy activities as loan guarantees for cellulosic ethanol projects as well as other renewable energy and energy-efficiency-related programs.

The NBAP was developed and is being implemented by the Biomass Research and Development (R&D) Board. Co-chaired by USDA and DOE officials, the Board was created to coordinate the activities of federal agencies involved in biomass research and development. Its membership represents the combined expertise and resources of senior decision makers from nearly a dozen executive branch agencies and the Administration.

To enhance the impact of federal biofuels investments and enable attainment of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), the NBAP outlines interagency actions and accelerated federally supported research efforts in seven areas including:

Sustainability
Feedstock Production
Feedstock Logistics
Conversion Science and Technology
Distribution Infrastructure
Blending
Environment, Health and Safety

Interagency working groups have been chartered with near term deadlines to deliver such key results as: the development of science-based sustainability criteria and indicators, 10-year R&D forecasts for research to develop cost-effective methods of producing cellulosic biofuels from non-food based feedstock, to advance these next generation biofuels to commercialization, and recommendations on infrastructure issues.

DOE has dedicated more than $1 billion to research, development and demonstration of cellulosic biofuels technology through 2009. Additionally, since 2006, USDA has invested almost $600 million for the research, development and demonstration of new biofuels technology. For more information about the NBAP and other USDA and DOE efforts, visit the following web sites www.usda.gov/energy and www.eere.energy.gov.

— Release provided by USDA

USDA to offer incentives for opening land to CRP

Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer announced that USDA would fully implement President Bush’s directive to offer incentives to farmers and ranchers for opening up their land in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) to the public for hunting, fishing, bird watching and other recreational activities.

The goal of the incentive, Schafer said, is to double public access by providing up to 7 million acres of CRP land for public access in the next five years in participating states. The incentive will be limited to CRP participants in the 21 states that already have public access programs: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington and Wyoming.

The public access incentive will pay $3 per acre, per year, for the life of the CRP contract, provided the contract acres remain enrolled in the state public access program. CRP contracts are between 10 and 15 years.

This incentive will be available to CRP participants with new or existing CRP contracts who voluntarily agree to open CRP land to public hunting, recreation, wildlife viewing and other recreational activities.

After environmental compliance requirements are complete, USDA will announce a sign-up date when farmers and ranchers can begin to enroll at their local county FSA office.

FSIS public meeting to discuss E. coli sampling, testing

The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has announced a public meeting to review federal and industry procedures for sampling and testing issues associated with raw beef and trimmings, particularly for E. coli O157:H7.

The meeting will be held Oct. 14 and 15 at L’Enfant Plaza Hotel in Washington from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 14 and from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Oct. 15.

The meeting will provide an opportunity to discuss and solicit comments on issues associated with the uniformity and consistency of sampling and testing methods for E. coli O157:H7 by the agency and industry. Additionally, FSIS will discuss a more sensitive enrichment broth for E. coli O157:H7 sampling implemented in January 2008. The agency will also present enhancements in field and scheduled sample collection techniques.

FSIS will present draft compliance guidelines for E. coli O157:H7 sampling for beef trimmings as well as draft guidance on the use of labels bearing voluntary E. coli O157:H7 testing claims. For example, a voluntary E. coli O157:H7 testing claim might indicate that the product has been sampled under a certain procedure.

Presentations on training for FSIS personnel on E. coli O157:H7 sampling and for industry N60 sampling procedures will also be provided. Stakeholders are invited to address issues of concern for other pathogens such as campylobacter, Listeria monocytogenes and salmonella, as well.

— compiled by Mathew Elliott, assistant editor, Angus Productions Inc.