During the June National Biodiesel Board membership meeting in Washington, D.C., members of the organization’s governing board unanimously approved two bylaw amendments.

The first change impacts the structure of the governing board. The 15-member governing board will be elected from the members at large where eight directors are elected by straight vote and seven are elected by weighted vote. The change in June removed the categories previously associated with the eight straight vote positions and will help streamline the yearly elections process.

The second change adds a category of membership that would allow renewable hydrocarbon diesel producers to apply to become NBB members. This inclusion of qualified renewable diesel producers will unite the advanced biofuels industry in the diesel sector and will consolidate under one tent the larger biodiesel industry with the younger and smaller renewable diesel industry, creating a stronger and more effective voice for both.

“We are excited to expand our membership to include renewable diesel producers,” said Joe Jobe, CEO of NBB, which traditionally has represented only biodiesel interests. “While produced with different technologies, biodiesel and renewable diesel are close cousins with a lot of shared interests, particularly in policy areas such as the RFS and the blenders tax incentive. Joining forces puts us in a much stronger position as a coalition to make our voice heard and spread the word that these policies are working and that advanced biofuels are here today.”

Representatives of the renewable diesel producers echoed Jobe’s statements. “We have long been impressed with the work NBB does to represent the biodiesel industry and felt that joining forces was the next logical step,” said Randall C. Stuewe, president and chairman of the board of Darling International Inc., which is a 50 percent equity owner in Diamond Green Diesel, a Louisiana-based renewable diesel plant with production capability of more than 136 MMgy coming on line shortly. “Many of the same issues face both biodiesel and renewable diesel producers and we’re glad to be speaking with one voice on these issues.”