Fuel retailers, biodiesel producers, home-heating industry support biodiesel blenders tax credit legislation

NATSO, the national association representing America’s travel plazas and truck stops, SIGMA: America’s Leading Fuel Marketers, the National Association of Convenience Stores, the National Energy & Fuels Institute and the Sustainable Advanced Biofuel Refiners Coalition applauded Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee, for introducing the “Consumer Relief and Opportunities for Producers Act” (S.3297) that would temporarily reinstate the $1-per-gallon 40A biodiesel blenders tax credit (BTC). 

The CROP Act would reinstate the BTC for six months through May 31, 2026, at the blender level.

Taxpayers would be able to choose between claiming the BTC or the 45Z clean fuel production credit.

“We commend Sen. Blackburn for her commitment to strengthening America’s energy markets through a reinstatement of the biodiesel blenders tax credit,” said NATSO President and CEO Max McBrayer. “Renewing the biodiesel blenders tax credit would help bring down the price of diesel in many markets throughout the United States, which would help American consumers navigate the affordability challenges that many of them are currently experiencing.”

McBrayer said reinstating the BTC is the right decision for both fuel retailers, trucking companies and the American people.

“We appreciate Sen. Blackburn for her leadership in restoring the longstanding section 40A biodiesel blenders tax credit, which has a proven track record of increasing biofuel production and lowering fuel prices at the pump,” said Matt Durand, deputy general counsel for NACS. “40A worked because it was straightforward and transparent. Fuel retailers have been flying blind without it, and the market is in distress amid such largescale uncertainty.”

Matt Ports, the president of Ports Petroleum and chairman of SIGMA’s board of directors, added, “The expiration of the biodiesel tax credit has imposed upward pressure on retail diesel prices and meaningfully hurt the American farm economy. SIGMA is grateful for Sen. Blackburn’s leadership in getting this important tax credit extended.” 

Despite being first enacted more than three years ago, the industry continues to await proposed regulations from the treasury department implementing the 45Z clean fuel production credit.

It is uncertain what the incentive for biodiesel will be under 45Z, but according to NATSO it will inevitably be much less than $1 per gallon and “likely do little to turn around the biodiesel industry’s ongoing decline.”

The 45Z credit has not facilitated sufficiently favorable blending economics to prompt fuel retailers to purchase more biofuels, NATSO stated.

After more than three years, 45Z’s complexity has created delays, revisions and uncertainty, the organization said.

“The biodiesel industry and American consumers are paying the price,” NATSO stated. “It remains uncertain when the Trump administration will propose rules around 45Z, when those rules will be finalized, and whether the ultimate result will be favorable to the biodiesel industry.”

When it was in place, the BTC enabled the biodiesel industry to grow from approximately 100 million gallons in 2005 to more than 2 billion gallons in 2024.

Since the 40A credit expired at the end of 2024, however, the biodiesel industry “has been on life support,” NATSO stated. “In 2025, biodiesel consumption fell dramatically to 960 million gallons through the end of October. The CROP Act is intended to throw that sector a lifeboat as it awaits further clarification around 45Z.”

SABR CEO Joe Jobe said, “SABR applauds Sen. Blackburn for her leadership in introducing the BTC extension in the Senate. If passed by Congress, this policy would provide desperately needed relief to the biodiesel industry and all of the other industries that biodiesel benefits in the value chain. This includes farmers who are experiencing an economic crisis in agriculture right now.”

NEFI President and CEO Jim Collura added, “Reliable and affordable supplies of biodiesel and renewable diesel are a top priority for America’s heating-oil dealers who serve nearly 5 million homes across the country. NEFI is therefore proud to endorse the Consumer Relief and Opportunities for Producers Act. Enactment of this bill would support our mostly small family businesses transition to renewable liquid heating fuels, which offer a lower-cost and more-immediate solution to reduce building emissions and contribute to regional energy security and diversity.”

Reinstating the BTC would incentivize fuel retailers nationwide to buy and blend more gallons of biodiesel, enabling fuel retailers to offer more competitively priced diesel fuel, NATSO stated.

When more than 70 percent of all American goods move by truck, this would help fight inflation, support affordability for American consumers and bolster America’s energy markets and the economy.

The CROP Act was cosponsored by Sen. Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina.  

“Sen. Tillis has long been a champion for the truck-stop and travel-center industry, and we are grateful for his ongoing support,” McBrayer said.