Biorefinery Assistance

The program provide loan guarantees for the development, construction, and retrofitting of commercial-scale biorefineries as well as biobased product manufacturing facilities.

Eligible entities under the program include: individuals, entities, Indian tribes, or units of State or local government, corporations, farm cooperatives, farmer cooperative organizations, associations of agricultural producers, National Laboratories, institutions of higher education, rural electric cooperatives, public power entities, or consortia of any of those entities.

Application for Federal Guarantee, feasibility Study, lender analysis and other applicable and required information as outlined in application and regulations.

Loan guarantees are made to fund the development, construction, and retrofitting of commercial-scale biorefineries as well as biobased product manufacturing facilities using eligible technology.

Depends on number of applications submitted and complexity of the project.

Submit an original completed application with two copies to USDA's Rural Development National Office: Energy Branch, Attention: Biorefinery Assistance Program, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, STOP 3225, Washington, DC, 20250-3225.

The Agency will score projects based on markets for the advanced biofuel, renewable chemicals, the potential for biobased manufacturing, and the diversity of project approaches, technologies and products. In general, the Agency may consider among other factors, whether the area in which the borrower proposes to place the biorefinery has other similar advanced biofuel facilities. Whether the borrower is proposing to use a feedstock not previously used in the production of advanced biofuels. Whether the borrower is proposing to work with producer associations or cooperatives. The level of financial participation by the borrower, including support from non-Federal and private sources. Whether the borrower has established that the adoption of the process proposed in the application will have a positive impact on resource conservation, public health, and the environment. Whether the borrower can establish that, if adopted, the biofuels production technology proposed in the application will not have any significant negative impacts on existing manufacturing plants or other facilities that use similar feedstocks. The potential for rural economic development, including the number of local jobs created and inclusion of local banks or other capital sources in any proposed debt syndication. The level of local ownership proposed in the application. Whether the project can be replicated. Whether the project is a first-of-a-kind technology, system, or process.

Based on a review of the application, the project must be eligible and have technical merit. Projects determined by the Agency to be without technical merit will not be selected for funding. The Agency will score each application in order to prioritize each proposed project.

A notice published in the Federal Register will provide established dates and deadlines for application acceptance.

Approval is subject to the completion of all requirements identified in the 7 CFR part 4279, subpart C.

An applicant may have review or appeal rights in accordance with 7 CFR Part 11.