Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig highlighted key legislative priorities for the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship during a meeting of the Iowa House Agriculture and Natural Resources Budget Subcommittee, specifically asking for continued support for the Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Program (RFIP). In response to this announcement, Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) Executive Director Monte Shaw made the following statement: “We applaud Secretary Naig for reinforcing the critical role renewable fuels play in Iowa’s economy. Supporting RFIP grows biofuels production, is crucial in allowing consumers to benefit from fuel choice, and saves them money at the pump.”
Iowa’s RFIP awarded $3.4 million in grants for 74 applicants that will add E15 to retail sites and one applicant to add a biodiesel terminal in Iowa.
“This type of demand is incredibly encouraging as Iowa works to implement the Governor’s E15 Access Standard,” said IRFA Executive Director Monte Shaw. “If you annualized this quarterly figure, demand for the E15 grants is well over the traditional funding level of $10 million per year. We expect demand will only grow as the E15 Access Standard deadline approaches on January 1, 2026. IRFA encourages the Legislature to fully fund the RFIP program as we cannot afford to run short of funds when they are needed the most.”
Previously, the program has distributed more than $50 million to help fund ethanol and biodiesel infrastructure across Iowa. RFIP reimbursement can be up to 90 percent of the installation costs, with up to a maximum of $64,300 per project for small retailers.
RFIP provides Iowa fuel retailers with cost-share grants to add the necessary equipment to their stations to offer higher blends of biofuels. The program has led to millions of dollars of private economic investment and hundreds of new stations offering E15, E85, and biodiesel blends at the pump.
