Overview

On March 12, 2011, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the availability of fiscal year 2011 funding for three programs that were authorized under the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 (the “Farm Bill”):

(i) the Section 9003 Biorefinery Assistance Loan Guarantee Program (the 9003 program); (ii) the Section 9004 Repowering Assistance Program (the 9004 program); and (iii) the Section 9005 Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels (the 9005 program).

To allocate the funding available through each of these programs for FY 2011, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued Notices of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the 9003 and 9004 programs, and a Notice of Contract for Proposal (NOCP) for the 9005 program. As described in further detail below, each program provides a different mechanism for promoting the increased production of biofuels and bioenergy. Specifically, each program is designed to support a different stage of the biofuels and bioenergy supply chain, reinforcing USDA’s objective of supporting the industry throughout all phases of growth and development.