On April 23 the Iowa legislature funded another year of Iowa’s cost-share blender pump program.

The Iowa Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Program, commonly referred to as the state’s blender pump program, provides cost-share grants to Iowa retailers wishing to upgrade fueling infrastructure to offer E15, E85 and/or biodiesel blends. The program has led to millions of dollars of private economic investment and hundreds of new stations offering biofuels at the pump.

The program’s funding of $3 million for fiscal year 2020 was included in HF765, a bill to fund the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund. It passed the Senate 36-13 and passed the House 54-45 late April 23.

“RFIP has accomplished exactly what it was designed to do, increase consumer fuel choice and promote private economic investment,” said Lucy Norton, the managing director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association. “The news is especially exciting because EPA is expected to soon finalize a rule to allow for year-round E15, which is likely to drive demand for this program. Another year of funding will ensure that more Iowa retailers can continue to build off of this success and driver access to Iowa’s clean-burning biofuels will grow.”

To date, RFIP has funded 782 projects for blender pumps, storage tanks and other fuel infrastructure. Reimbursement can be up to 70 percent of the installation costs, up to a maximum of $50,000 per project, with a five-year commitment to sell E15, E85 or biodiesel blends.  For more on the program, please click here.