September 2009

The Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) was authorized by Title IX of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, as amended by Title IX of the Food, Conservation, and Energy of 2008 Act (2008 Farm Bill). BCAP:

The CHST Matching Payment Program will provide eligible material owners matching payments for the sale and delivery of eligible material to a CHST-qualified BCF. These payments will be available to eligible material owners at the rate of $1 for each $1 per dry ton paid by the CHST-qualified BCF to the eligible material owners, limited to a maximum of $45 per dry ton and limited to a 2-year payment duration.

On May 5, 2009, President Obama issued a Presidential directive to aggressively accelerate the investment in and production of biofuels. The directive included a directive that Secretary Vilsack take steps to the extent permitted by law to expedite and increase production of and investment in biofuel development efforts which includes issuance of guidance and support for collection, harvest, storage, and transportation assistance of eligible materials for use in biomass conversion facilities.

On June 11, 2009, the USDA Commodity Credit Corporation published a Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) announcing the implementation of the 2009-CHST Matching Payment Program.

Eligible Materials generally includes:

Note: Harvested grains, fibers, or other commodities eligible to receive payments under Title I of the 2008 Farm Bill are not eligible for CHST Matching Payments, however, not more than 20 percent of the 2009 total program payments to eligible material owners will be available for crop residues from those commodities that are also eligible to receive payments under Title I of the 2008 Act.

Note: See the BCAP Website for the current BCAP - CHST Eligible Materials List.

Eligible material collection from National Forest land or Bureau of Land Management land, Tribal, state, and other local governmentally owned lands must be conducted according to all applicable laws and ordinances including acquisition of all required permits. Eligible material removed from private cropland must be done in compliance with conservation plans required for highly erodible land (HEL) as determined by NRCS under Title XII of the Food Security Act of 1985, as amended. Eligible material removed from nonindustrial private forestland must be done in compliance with a new or amended Forest Stewardship Plan (FSP), or other practice plan approved by the State forester. FSP's needed as a result of BCAP shall be created or amended at no expense to CCC.

CHST matching payments will not be made for any eligible material delivered prior to an application approved by FSA or if any scheme or device is used to circumvent the provisions of the program.

BCF's are facilities that convert eligible material into heat, power, biobased CHST products, advanced biofuels, or any combination of these. FSA will issue CHST matching payments only to those eligible material owners who sell and deliver eligible material to a CHST-qualified BCF.

BCF is a facility that produces, or has the potential to produce, either of the following:

To become a CHST-qualified BCF, the authorized representative of the facility must complete and submit 3 original Agreements, in addition to other related forms and documents, to the State FSA Office for signature and approval. An agreement with a BCF is a necessary step because CHST Matching Payments are only available for eligible material delivered to a CHST-qualified BCF. The Agreement and BCF CHST-qualification will become effective when both parties sign the MOU. Each facility must enter into a separate MOU regardless of whether one owner has multiple BCF's. The facility must be physically located in the U.S. or U.S. territories, an entirely separate legal entity from eligible material owners, and conduct purchases of the eligible material from the owners using arms-length transactions. The facility must agree to purchase eligible material only on a dollar per dry ton weight equivalent basis and must agree to provide the eligible material owner a signed scale ticket clearly indicating the actual total tonnage delivered, total dry-weight tonnage equivalent purchased written on the scale ticket, and the authorized representative's signature written on the scale ticket.

Note: See the BCAP Website for additional requirements concerning BCF Qualification.

Copies of written sales contracts, purchase commitment agreements, or nonbinding letters of intent, for eligible material delivery and sale between the eligible material owners and a CHST-qualified BCF, must be submitted to the County Office before a CHST Matching Payment application is approved.

Owners with authority to sell eligible material must first apply for a CHST matching payment at the County Office before sale or delivery of the eligible material to qualify for CHST matching payment. Eligible material owners who plan to deliver eligible material to multiple CHST-qualified BCF's are required to submit separate applications for CHST matching payment for each CHST-qualified BCF for which eligible material is planned to be sold and delivered. Eligible material owners who plan to deliver eligible material to a CHST-qualified BCF are required to submit applications for CHST matching payment to the County Office with administrative authority over the private land from which the eligible material is removed, or for biomass harvested or collected from public lands, the County Office, nearest the CHST-qualified BCF, which has received an allocation of CHST funds.

After each eligible material sale and delivery under arms-length sale transactions, eligible material owners must submit a "Request for Payment" at the FSA county office where the original application was approved to notify and request CHST matching payment disbursement. Multiple sales and deliveries can be made under the initial approved CHST Matching Payment application. CHST matching payments will be disbursed only after all required documents, including original scale tickets and invoices, are submitted to the County Office.

Note: See the BCAP Website for all FSA National Directives and Documents related to BCAP implementation.

BCAP supports the production of bioenergy on the nation's farms and ranches, provides matching payments for biomass from farms, ranches, and forest land delivered to a CHST-qualified biomass conversion facility, and protects the environmental health of land enrolled in BCAP.

FSA administers BCAP with partnership support from:

Further information on this and other FSA programs is available from local USDA Service Centers or on the FSA Web site at: www.fsa.usda.gov.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual's income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA's TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of Discrimination, write to USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20250-9410, or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.