Biomass Crop Assistance Program

The Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) aims to increase the supply of renewable energy materials by encouraging farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners to grow and deliver biomass. The program seeks to reduce dependence on non-renewable energy, support rural economies, and promote conservation practices that protect soil and water resources.

To be eligible to enter into a BCAP contract for the purposes of receiving an annual payment or establishment payments, a person or legal entity must be an owner, operator, or tenant of eligible land within a project area. Eligible land must be agricultural land or nonindustrial private forest land. Eligible agricultural land includes cropland; grassland; pastureland, rangeland, hayland, and other land on which food fiber, or other agricultural products are produced or capable of being legally produced for which a valid conservation plan exists and is implemented. Ineligible land is as follows: (1) Federal lands; (2) State-owned, municipal, or other local government-owned lands; (3) Native sod; and (4) Land that is already enrolled in CCC’s CRP, Wetlands Reserve Program, or Grassland Reserve Program. Eligible crops for annual and establishment payments are renewable plant materials such as feed grains, other agricultural commodities, or other plants and trees, and algae; waste materials including vegetative waste, materials, such as woods wastes and wood residues, animal waste and byproducts, such as fats, oils, greases, and manure, food waste, and yard waste. Ineligible crops are any crop eligible to receive payments under Title I of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (See 8-LP, paragraph 126 and 7-CN for Title I commodities); and any plant that is invasive or noxious or has the potential to become invasive or noxious. Eligible materials for matching payments include various types of renewable biomass collected or harvested directly from the land in accordance with an approved conservation plan, forest stewardship plan, or an equivalent plan before transport and delivery to the biomass conversion facility. Materials will only be eligible if USDA determines that there is no higher value use for that material within a reasonable distance of the biomass conversion facility.

Matching payments are not available for the following products:
(1) Material that is whole grain from any crop that is eligible to receive; payments under Title I of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 or an amendment made by that title, including, but not limited to, barley, corn, grain sorghum, oats, rice, or wheat; honey; or material that is mohair; certain oilseeds such as canola, crambe, flaxseed, mustard seed, rapeseed, safflower seed, soybeans, sesame seed, and sunflower seeds; peanuts; pulse crops such as small chickpeas, lentils, and dry peas; dairy products; sugar; wool; and cotton boll fiber; (2) Animal waste and by-products of animal waste including fats, oils, greases, and manure; (3) Food waste and yard waste; and (4) Algae.

All eligible material must be harvested or collected directly from the land by the eligible material owner according to a conservation, forest stewardship, or equivalent plan and be separated from the higher value product before the point of delivery. Woody biomass harvested or collected outside of project area contracts is limited to eligible material resulting from preventative treatments to address fire fuel load reduction, insect or disease outbreaks, or restore ecosystem health. Woody biomass harvested or collected outside of project area contracts is limited to eligible materials that do not have an existing market for non-biomass use and cannot be co-mingled with higher product value materials. Eligible material owner, for purposes of the matching payment, means a person or entity having the right to collect or harvest eligible material, who has the risk of loss in the material that is delivered to an eligible facility and who has directly or by agent delivered or intends to deliver the eligible material to a qualified biomass conversion facility, including: (1) For eligible material harvested or collected from private lands, including cropland, the owner of the land, the operator or producer conducting farming operations on the land, or any other person designated by the owner of the land; and (2) For eligible material harvested or collected from public lands, a person having the right to harvest or collect eligible material pursuant to a contract or permit with the US Forest Service or other appropriate Federal agency, such as a timber sale contract, stewardship contract or agreement, service contract or permit, or related applicable Federal land permit or contract, and who has submitted a copy of the permit or contract authorizing such collection to CCC. Eligible facilities are biomass conversion facilities that convert or propose to convert renewable biomass into heat, power, bio based products, or advanced biofuels and have been approved for the BCAP program by the CCC.

Contract approval for matching payments is subject to availability of funds and to eligible material owners completion of required conservation plan, forest stewardship plan or equivalent plan; presentation of proof of material ownership; and compliance with all eligible material provisions. Eligible material owners accepted into the program will receive their matching payments after they provide CCC documentation of deliveries to qualified biomass conversion facilities. Establishment payments will be made based on a determination by CCC that an eligible practice or an identifiable portion exists. Eligible practices are practices specified in the conservation plan, forest stewardship plan, or equivalent plan that meet all standards need to cost-effectively establish annual crops, non-wood perennial crops, and wood perennial crops. Payments will not be more than 75 percent of the cost for establishing a perennial crop for seed and stock costs; planting costs, cost of site preparation for non-industrial forest land; could include but not limited to site preparation for non-tree planting and supplemental or temporary irrigation. Annual payments will be calculated on a per acre basis using market-based rental rates. Rental payment rates will be based on average soil rental rate for cropland and all other agricultural land; marginal pastureland; and for forest land. The first years' payments will be made as an advance in an amount equal to 50 percent with 30 days of contract approval, with the remaining 50 percent being paid within 30 days of the first-year contract anniversary date. Annual payments for subsequent years will be made within 30 days of the contract anniversary beginning with the second-year contract anniversary. If BCAP participants collect both annual and matching payments for their crops, they are subject to a reduction in their annual payment. The size of the reduction depends on the end use of the biomass being delivered to a biomass conversion facility. The annual payment will be reduced by: 1 percent if the eligible crop is delivered to a biomass conversion facility for conversion to cellulosic biofuels as defined by 40 CFR 80.1401; by 10 percent if the eligible crop is delivered to a biomass conversion facility for conversion to advanced biofuels; and by 25 percent if the eligible crop is delivered to a biomass conversion facility for conversion to heat, power, or biobased products.