12 2 STA T . 2 07 2 PUBLIC LA W 110 – 2 46—J U NE 1 8, 2008 ‘ ‘ SEC.90 0 3 . BIOR E F I N ER YA SSIS T ANCE. ‘ ‘ (a)PURPOSE.—Thepur p os eo ft h i sse c tio n is to assist in the d e v e l op m ent of ne w and emer g ing technologies for the development of advanced b iofuels , so as to— ‘‘( 1 ) increase the energ y independence of the U nited S tates
‘‘( 2 ) promote resource conservation, public health, and the environment; ‘‘( 3 ) diversify mar k ets for agricultural and forestry products and agriculture waste material; and ‘‘( 4 ) create j obs and enhance the economic development of the rural economy. ‘‘(b) D E FIN I T IONS.— I n this section
‘‘(1) EL I G I B LE ENTIT Y .—The term ‘eligible entity ’ means an individual, entity, Indian tribe, or unit of State or local govern - ment, including a corporation, farm cooperative, farmer coopera- tive organi z ation, association of agricultural producers, N ational L aboratory, institution of higher education, rural elec- tric cooperative, public power entity, or consortium of any of those entities. ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE TE CH NOLOGY.—The term ‘eligible technology’ means, as determined by the Secretary— ‘‘( A ) a technology that is being adopted in a viable commercial-scale operation of a biorefinery that produces an advanced biofuel; and ‘‘( B ) a technology not described in subparagraph (A) that has been demonstrated to have technical and economic potential for commercial application in a biorefinery that produces an advanced biofuel. ‘‘(c) ASSIST A NCE.—The Secretary shall make available to eligible entities— ‘‘(1) grants to assist in paying the costs of the development and construction of demonstration-scale biorefineries to dem- onstrate the commercial viability of 1 or more processes for converting renewable biomass to advanced biofuels; and ‘‘(2) guarantees for loans made to fund the development, construction, and retrofitting of commercial-scale biorefineries using eligible technology. ‘‘(d) G RANTS.— ‘‘(1) C O M PETITI V E BASIS.—The Secretary shall award grants under subsection (c)(1) on a competitive basis. ‘‘(2) SELECTION CRITERIA.— ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In approving grant applications, the Secretary shall establish a priority scoring system that assigns priority scores to each application and only approve applications that e x ceed a specified minimum, as deter- mined by the Secretary. ‘‘(B) F EASIBILITY.—In approving a grant application, the Secretary shall determine the technical and economic feasibility of the project based on a feasibility study of the project described in the application conducted by an independent third party. ‘‘(C) SCORING SYSTEM.—In determining the priority scoring system, the Secretary shall consider— ‘‘(i) the potential market for the advanced biofuel and the byproducts produced; 7USC8103.
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