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Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) have introduced a bill that would reinstate the $1-per-gallon tax credit for biodiesel producers that expired last year.

The incentive was first established in 2005. Cantwell and Grassley’s bill would extend it to 2017.

“Investing in America’s clean energy economy is the smart thing to do for our environment and America’s energy security,” Cantwell said in a Feb. 13 statement. “This legislation gives businesses the certainty they need to invest in biodiesel and the development of affordable, domestic alternatives to fossil fuels.”

The bill would increase the credit to $1.10 per gallon for the first 15 million gallons refined by small producers.

The National Biodiesel Board urged the bill’s passage.

“The biodiesel tax incentive has expired three times over the past five years, and each time it has severely disrupted production,” Anne Steckel, the group’s vice president of federal affairs, said in a statement. “By comparison, we know that at least $4 billion in incentives encouraging domestic petroleum production are built into the tax code. We need that same kind of stability for younger, cleaner industries like biodiesel and renewable diesel to compete.”