Amended in Senate September 10, 2013

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Joint Resolution No. 21

Introduced by Assembly Member Olsen

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

May 20, 2013

Assembly Joint Resolution No. 21—Relative to the federal Renewable Fuel Standard program.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AJR 21, as amended, Olsen. Renewable Fuel Standard program: reform.

This measure would urge Congress to begin delete swiftly enact House Resolution 1462, the RFS Reform Act of 2013, to revise the requirements of the Renewable Fuel Standard program. end delete begin insert 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. end insert

Fiscal committee: no.

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 corn-starch-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

begin insert

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

end insert begin insert

WHEREAS, California leads the nation in milk production with
over 1.75 million dairy cows that primarily depend on feed corn;
and

end insert

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; begin delete and end delete begin insert now, therefore, be it end insert

begin delete

WHEREAS, A bipartisan group of Members of Congress have
authored the RFS Reform Act of 2013 in the form of House
Resolution 1462, which will eliminate corn-based ethanol
requirements, limit the amount of ethanol that can be blended into
conventional gasoline to 10 percent, and require the United States
Environmental Protection Agency to set cellulosic biofuels levels
at production levels, bringing fundamental and urgently needed
reform to this costly and unworkable federal policy; now, therefore,
be it

end delete begin delete

Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature join a diverse group of
businesses, industry representatives, and dairymen across California
in urging Congress to swiftly enact House Resolution 1462, the
RFS Reform Act of 2013, and bring immediately necessary relief
to consumers and agricultural families of California; and be it
further

end delete begin insert

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

end insert

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.