Biorefinery, renewable chemical, biobased product manufacturing, and sustainable aviation fuel assistance

(a) In general Section 9003 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8103) is amended— (1) in the section heading, by striking and biobased product manufacturing and inserting biobased product manufacturing, and sustainable aviation fuel; (2) in subsection (a), in the matter preceding paragraph (1)— (A) by striking to assist and inserting to develop advanced biofuels, renewable chemicals, biobased product manufacturing, and sustainable aviation fuel, and to assist; and (B) by striking and biobased product manufacturing so as and inserting biobased product manufacturing, and sustainable aviation fuel so as; (3) in subsection (b)— (A) in paragraph (1)— (i) by inserting or innovative after technologically new; and (ii) by striking end-user products and inserting end-user products, renewable chemicals, and biobased products; and (B) in paragraph (3)— (i) in subparagraph (A)— (I) by indenting clauses (i) through (iii) appropriately; (II) in clause (ii), by striking or at the end; (III) in clause (iii), by striking; and and inserting; or; and (IV) by adding at the end the following: (iv) sustainable aviation fuel (as defined by the Secretary); and; and (ii) in subparagraph (B)— (I) by indenting clauses (i) through (iii) appropriately; (II) in clause (ii), by striking or at the end; (III) in clause (iii), by striking the period at the end and inserting; or; and (IV) by adding at the end the following: (iv) sustainable aviation fuel (as defined by the Secretary).; (4) in subsection (c)— (A) by striking The Secretary shall make available to eligible entities guarantees and inserting the following: Subject to the availability of funding, the Secretary shall make available to eligible entities— (1) on a year-round basis, guarantees; and (B) in paragraph (1) (as so designated), by striking the period at the end and inserting the following:, in accordance with subsection (d); and (2) on a competitive basis, grants to develop, construct, or retrofit pilot or demonstration-scale biorefineries to demonstrate the commercial viability of 1 or more processes for converting renewable biomass to advanced biofuels, renewable chemicals, sustainable aviation fuel (as defined by the Secretary), and biobased products in accordance with subsection (e).; (5) in subsection (d)— (A) in paragraph (1)— (i) by striking subparagraphs (A) and (C); (ii) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) and (D) as subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively; (iii) in subparagraph (A) (as so redesignated)— (I) by striking In approving a loan guarantee application and inserting the following: (i) In general In approving an application for a loan guarantee under subsection (c)(1); and (II) by adding at the end the following: (ii) Waiver The Secretary may waive the feasibility study under clause (i) for proven or otherwise commercially available technologies.; and (iv) in subparagraph (B) (as so redesignated), by striking loan guarantee applications and inserting applications for loan guarantees under subsection (c)(1); (B) in paragraph (2), by striking subsection (c) each place it appears and inserting subsection (c)(1); and (C) by adding at the end the following: (3) Technical review agreements (A) In general The Secretary shall, at the appropriate time, enter into an agreement with project applicants that clearly describes the specific objectives, outcomes, and conditions by which the Secretary shall determine the successful technical feasibility of the projects to be carried out by the project applicants. (B) Guidelines and expectations (i) In general The agreement entered into under clause (i) shall include clear guidelines and expectations for— (I) the methodologies, protocols, and procedures to be used by the Secretary to determine the technical feasibility of an integrated demonstration unit; and (II) the functions to be demonstrated by the integrated demonstration unit. (ii) Contents The guidelines and expectations referred to in clause (i) shall include— (I) a set timeline for the integrated demonstration unit campaign and final technical report to show reliable evidence of continuous, steady-state production; (II) criteria and methods for evaluating the success of the project, including any third-party assessments or evaluations that may be conducted during the demonstration period and at the conclusion of the set timeline described in subclause (I); (III) criteria and methods to prove the ability of the integrated demonstration unit to use project-specific feedstock for the production of advanced biofuels, renewable chemicals, sustainable aviation fuels (as defined by the Secretary), or biobased products at a yield and quality consistent with the design basis of the project; (IV) required information and conditions that demonstrate operation duration, quality, and quantity specifications; and (V) any other information that, if supplied to the Secretary, would assist the project applicants in sufficiently demonstrating the technical feasibility of the project. (C) Failure to comply (i) Notification If an eligible entity fails to comply with a guideline or expectation under subparagraph (B), the Secretary shall issue to the eligible entity a written notice that— (I) describes each deficiency; and (II) provides a reasonable timeframe for the eligible entity to correct any deficiencies. (ii) Corrective action period Not later than 90 days after the date of receipt of a notice under clause (i), the applicable eligible entity shall— (I) address any deficiency described in clause (i)(I); and (II) submit to the Secretary a revised technical feasibility assessment for reconsideration. (D) Determination of technical feasibility On fulfillment by an eligible entity of the guidelines and expectations under subparagraph (B), or approval of a revised technical feasibility assessment submitted by an eligible entity under subparagraph (C)(ii)(II), as applicable, the Secretary shall determine that the project of the eligible entity is technically feasible.; (6) by striking subsection (e) and inserting the following: (e) Grants (1) Selection criteria (A) In general In approving applications for grants under subsection (c)(2), the Secretary shall establish a priority scoring system that assigns priority scores to each application and only approve applications that exceed a specified minimum score, as determined by the Secretary. (B) Feasibility (i) In general In approving an application for a grant under subsection (c)(2), the Secretary shall determine the technical and economic feasibility of the project based on a feasibility study of the project described in the application conducted by an independent third party. (ii) Waiver The Secretary may waive the feasibility study under clause (i) for proven or otherwise commercially available technologies. (C) Scoring system The priority scoring system established under subparagraph (A) shall consider, with respect to a project proposed in an application for a grant under subsection (c)(2)— (i) the potential market for the advanced biofuel, renewable chemical, sustainable aviation fuel (as defined by the Secretary), or biobased product, and the byproducts produced under the project; (ii) the level of financial participation by the eligible entity, including support from non-Federal and private sources; (iii) whether the eligible entity is proposing to use— (I) a feedstock not previously used in the production of advanced biofuels; or (II) a feedstock, process, or technology used in an innovative manner in the production of renewable chemicals, sustainable aviation fuel (as defined by the Secretary), or biobased products; (iv) whether the eligible entity is proposing to work with producer associations or cooperatives; (v) whether the eligible entity has established that the adoption of the process proposed in the application will have a positive impact on resource conservation, public health, and the environment; (vi) the potential for rural economic development; (vii) whether the project can be replicated; (viii) scalability for commercial use; and (ix) in the case of an advanced biofuels project, the contribution of the project to domestic energy security. (2) Grant amount The amount of a grant awarded under subsection (c)(2) shall not exceed $10,000,000.; (7) in subsection (g)(2), by striking 2023 and inserting 2031; (8) in subsection (h)(1), by striking subsections (a) through (e), and (g) and inserting subsections (a) through (e) and (g); and (9) in subsection (i)(1), by striking subsections (a) through (e) and subsection (g) and inserting subsections (a) through (e) and (g). (b) Rescission Of the unobligated balances of amounts made available under section 9003(g) of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8103(g)), $15,000,000 are rescinded.