	BCAP Overview

The Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) is intended to assist with some of the feedstock supply challenges facing the cellulosic biofuels industry. In particular, through the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA, P.L. Similarly, the 2008 farm bill (the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, P.L. Among the Title IX bioenergy programs of the 2008 farm bill is BCAP —authorized by Congress to support the establishment and production of eligible biomass crops for conversion to bioenergy in selected areas, and to assist agricultural and forest land owners and operators with collection, harvest, storage, and transportation (CHST) of eligible material for use in a biomass conversion facility. Changes to BCAP in 2014 Farm Bill

The 2014 farm bill (Agricultural Act of 2014; P.L. 113-79 ) extends BCAP through FY2018 with some modifications to its implementation and with new mandatory funding. Program Operation

BCAP is administered by USDA's Farm Service Agency (FSA) and receives mandatory funding through the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC). BCAP provides two categories of financial assistance: 
1. establishment and annual payments , including a one-time payment of up to 50% of the cost of establishment for perennial crops, and annual payments (i.e., rental rates based on a set of criteria) of up to 5 years for non-woody and 15 years for woody perennial biomass crops; and 2. Project Areas

BCAP assistance for establishing and producing biomass crops is available within designated project areas. BCAP project areas are specific geographic areas where producers may enroll land into BCAP contracts and produce specified biomass crops. The statute authority requires project area sponsors to include the following as part of the proposal:
a description of the eligible land including the geographic boundary describing the area where land can be enrolled; a list of eligible crops of each producer that will participate in the proposed project area; a letter of commitment from a biomass conversion facility that the facility will use the eligible crops intended to be produced in the project area; evidence that the biomass conversion facility has sufficient equity available, if the facility is not operational at the time the proposal is submitted; and any other appropriate information about the biomass conversion facility that gives reasonable assurance that the plant will be in operation by the time eligible crops are ready for harvest. 110-246 ) through FY2013. No new mandatory funding was included for BCAP under ATRA; instead, ATRA included discretionary funding of $20 million for BCAP authorized to be appropriated for FY2013, but Congress appropriated no funds for BCAP for FY2013

		Funding Under the 2014 Farm Bill

The 2014 farm bill authorized mandatory funding of $25 million annually for FY2014 through FY2018; no discretionary funding is authorized. For FY2015, Congress further limited mandatory funding for BCAP to not more than $23 million in the Consolidated and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 ( P.L. 113-235 ). The presidential memorandum requested the Secretary of Agriculture to accelerate investment in and production of biofuels, and it specifically listed energy programs in the 2008 farm bill, including "guidance and support for collection, harvest, storage, and transportation (CHST) assistance for eligible materials for use in biomass conversion facilities." In June 2014, under the authority of the 2014 farm bill, USDA issued a Notice of Funds Availability for BCAP for FY2014 in which it made available $12.5 million for BCAP matching payments to facilitate the delivery of eligible biomass material, with the balance of the funds available for FY2014 to be used for technical assistance activities, such as implementation, operation, compliance, monitoring and maintenance of all components of BCAP. Many of the issues that initially arose around BCAP have been addressed, and so have become less acute over time. Another concern centers on the continued slow development of a commercial-scale cellulosic biofuels industry that BCAP was meant to support. USDA's final rule for BCAP states that black liquor is considered an industrial waste by-product and therefore is not eligible under BCAP. Grants and loan guarantees leverage industry investments in new technologies and infrastructure, as well as in the production of cellulosic feedstocks. However, BCAP is the principal program designed to help "kick start" the U.S. cellulosic biofuels sector.
The Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) is designed to assist the bioenergy industry to overcome the hurdle of continuous biomass availability—viewed as a critical deterrent to private sector investment in the cellulosic biofuels industry. To accomplish this, BCAP is charged with two tasks: (1) to support the establishment and production of eligible crops for conversion to bioenergy in selected areas, and (2) to assist agricultural and forest land owners and operators with collection, harvest, storage, and transportation (CHST) of eligible material for use in a biomass conversion facility.
BCAP was created in 2008 by the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-246, 2008 farm bill), shortly after Congress had vastly expanded the usage mandate for renewable fuels, including cellulosic biofuels in the Energy Security and Independence Act of 2007 (EISA, P.L. 110-140). BCAP was envisaged as a mechanism for jump-starting the production of cellulosic feedstock for what was expected to be a rapidly expanding industry. The 2014 farm bill (Agricultural Act of 2014; P.L. 113-79) extends BCAP through FY2018, but with a number of changes aimed at limiting program costs. BCAP is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Farm Service Agency (FSA). BCAP provides two categories of financial assistance: (1) annual and establishment payments that share in the cost of establishing and maintaining production of eligible biomass crops; and (2) matching payments that share in the cost of the collection, harvest, storage, and transportation (CHST) of biomass to an eligible biomass conversion facility. BCAP assistance for establishing and producing biomass crops is available within designated project areas. BCAP project areas are specific geographic areas where producers may enroll land into BCAP contracts and produce specified biomass crops.
Under the 2008 farm bill, BCAP was authorized to receive such sums as necessary, meaning that funding for BCAP was both mandatory through the borrowing authority of USDA's Commodity Credit Corporation and open-ended since it depended on program participation. However, Congress imposed an upper limit on BCAP funding from FY2010 through FY2012 through appropriations bills. No funds were available for BCAP for FY2013.
In fashioning the 2014 farm bill, Congress made a number of changes to BCAP. Standing out among the changes was a hard cap on the program's mandatory authorization level. The 2014 farm bill replaced the open-ended authorization for BCAP in the 2008 farm bill with a cap of $25 million per year of mandatory funding for FY2014 through FY2018. Congress has further limited BCAP through appropriations bills, with the result that outlays under the program have declined steeply since peaking at nearly $250 million in FY2010. In December 2014, Congress passed the Consolidated and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (P.L. 113-235), which imposed an upper limit of $23 million in funding for BCAP for FY2015. In part, these changes reflect the much slower-than-expected pace at which the cellulosic biofuels industry has developed.
Concerns that arose in the early years after BCAP was authorized—for example, that it could heighten competition over eligible woody biomass, thus raising the price of that material to the detriment of traditional users, such as nurseries and others, and that the by-product of paper production, "black liquor," could qualify for CHST matching payments—have been addressed, and so have become less acute. Some have argued the payments are largely unnecessary and therefore wasteful. An ongoing issue is that while BCAP's primary purpose is to facilitate the development of an expanding, commercial-scale cellulosic biofuel industry by helping it meet its feedstock challenges, numerous headwinds continue to retard the development of that industry.