Iowa groups concerned by proposed changes to California’s LCFS

The Iowa Biodiesel Board and Iowa Soybean Association expressed disappointment and concern over the California Air Resources Board’s recently proposed amendments to its Low Carbon Fuel Standard.

If adopted, these changes would impose caps on credits for soy- and canola-based biodiesel and renewable diesel.

“The proposed amendments introduced by CARB to significantly limit vegetable-oil feedstocks and set onerous requirements for soybean oil are short-sighted and counterproductive to CARB’s goal of decarbonizing the fuel supply,” said Grant Kimberley, who serves as the senior director of market development for the Iowa Soybean Association and the executive director of the Iowa Biodiesel Board.

“Rather than further embracing biodiesel—a solution that is here today and already contributing greatly to cleaning up the California fuel supply—CARB chooses to inexplicably penalize biodiesel while waiting for future technology to take hold,” he said.

"Without scientific justification, these proposed vegetable-oil caps and additional sustainability requirements threaten to reverse the progress California has made in emissions reductions and destabilize the economics of renewable fuels nationwide,” Kimberley added.  

“This is not only a bad precedent for California, but bad for other states following California’s lead, and harmful to Iowa and other states with strong biodiesel production and a thriving farm economy,” he said.

Unlike petroleum, this proposal would penalize the many producers and farmers who have dedicated their livelihoods to a cleaner, more sustainable energy supply,” Kimberley stated. “We urge CARB to reconsider.”

IBB and ISA will submit comments to CARB during the comment period.