Biodiesel bill chugs along

To B-5, or not to B-5? That is the question.

The Iowa Legislature is considering legislation this week that would require every gallon of diesel fuel sold in Iowa to contain at least 5 percent Iowa-produced biodiesel. And, while much of the public’s attention is focused on legislative budget cutting this week, the B-5 discussion is quietly unfolding in the House of Representatives.

B-5 legislation passed the Senate last year and could become state law if it passes the House. Lobbyists on both sides have been working either to promote the bill or to tamp it down.

The fight seems destined to continue, according to Craig Cronbaugh, director of information for the Iowa Legislative Services Bureau, even though a lot of other proposals will be set aside Friday by the legislative “funnel.” Any bill not out of committee by Friday will no longer be considered, Cronbaugh said.

“But the B-5 bill is strangely alive,” he said, because it is still active in the House Ways and Means Committee.

“Ways and Means is exempt from the funnel,” Cronbaugh said. “So if it passes that committee, it could still make the full House floor” for a vote before the Legislature adjourns.

State Rep. Donovan Olson, a Boone Democrat and member Ways and Means, said his committee has witnessed “lots of lobbying” for and against the bill.

Olson drafted a B-5 bill for the House Environmental Protection Committee, which he leads. But the measure died because there weren’t enough votes for it, he said.

The same could happen in Ways and Means, Olson said.

“If I had to guess, I’d say it probably won’t pass this session, but you never know what’s going to happen around here,” he said.

The B-5 bill is keeping lobbyists busy.

On Monday, Iowa Biodiesel Board spokesman Randy Olson testified in favor of the bill before the House Agriculture Committee.

In 2009, biodiesel created more than 2,900 Iowa jobs and increased the state’s gross domestic product by $470 million, Olson said. Adopting B-5 can make Iowa a mecca for biofuel blending and attract business from large oil companies to grow a green industry in Iowa, too, he said.

But without a law to perpetuate the industry, benefits are shrinking fast, Olson said.

Iowans for Consumer Fuel Choice opposes the law. This week, the group rolled out a study by Drake University professor and economist Wayne Newkirk that shows the B-5 mandate would “force demand by eliminating competition for suppliers.”

Newkirk said B-5 “will inevitably drive up price, and consumers will have to pay or choose to refuel outside of Iowa.”

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