Schumer Visits Riverwright Ethanol Project to Unveil New Ethanol Tax Credit

Schumer Visits Riverwright Ethanol Project To Unveil New Ethanol Tax Credit

Senator: This Is A Win-Win-Win For Western New York - Paving The Way For New Jobs, Using Local Crops, And Lowering The Price Of Gas

Schumer's Legislation Provides Tax Credit For Building Ethanol Plants In Places Such As New York With High-Consumption, Low-Production

With Ethanol Production Set To Begin In September 2007, RiverWright Hopes To Eventually Buy 40 Million Bushels

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today visited the RiverWright Ethanol Project and unveiled his new ethanol tax credit legislation. Schumer's bill will provide tax credits for building ethanol plants in places such as New York where there is high-consumption and low-production. In order to increase domestic production of ethanol plants in New York and other states that consume a lot of fuel and produce little, Schumer will introduce The Ethanol Stimulus Act of 2006, a new tax incentive that would benefit non-traditional producers of ethanol. The tax incentive would allow a larger depreciation schedule for new ethanol facilities to states that produce less than two percent of the entire ethanol supply yet consume 2 percent or more of the total gasoline purchased in America.

"This summer we have had near record high gas prices in Western New York," Schumer said. "New Yorkers are getting hit harder than most Americans at the gas pump. The bottom line is, in order to solve this problem we need encourage more domestic production of ethanol in states like ours that don't produce but do use ethanol. The RiverWright ethanol project will bring cutting edge technology and put Western New York at the forefront of ethanol and next generation fuels production in the Northeast. This is a win-win-win for the region and will pave the way for new jobs, use our own local crops and bring down the price at the pump."

Since New York does not yet produce ethanol, the state is reliant either on limited domestic supply or on the more expensive foreign supply of it, which makes up 10 percent of each gallon of gas. To combat this, next week Schumer will introduce The Ethanol Stimulus Act of 2006 to create a new tax credit designed to spur ethanol production in states that consume more than two percent of U.S. gasoline, but produce less than two percent of U.S. ethanol. For new production facilities in these states, this bill would give new producers in these states a tax credit of 20 cents per gallon on the first 50 million gallons produced a year, as long as the plant's total annual ethanol production does not exceed 150 million gallons. To be eligible for the new credit, the contract to build the plant must be entered into between August 8, 2005, the date of enactment of last year's energy bill, and August 8, 2010. A production facility is eligible for the credit for a total of five years.

"Everyone is feeling the pain at the pump these days," Schumer continued. "Without immediate and concrete efforts by the federal government to help produce more ethanol domestically, we could see 4 dollar a gallon gasoline, drastically increased airline tickets, and the average American family will be stuck with the bill."

Schumer visited the site of the RiverWright LLC's $80 million ethanol manufacturing project that will add to Buffalo's industrial waterfront business base. It will utilize more than 20 existing buildings including four grain elevators, two former flour mills and a malting house. Located on an 18-acre parcel along the Buffalo River, the plant is expected to produce 110 million gallons of ethanol annually. As many as 60 lake freighters a year are expected to serve the plant, delivering some of the 40 million bushels of corn the ethanol plant will use for production. RiverWright will break ground this September on the site which includes 20 existing buildings, and ethanol production is set to begin in September 2007, with 65 full-time permanent jobs. They have the potential to sell 100 million gallons of ethanol annually and 400,000 tons of feed grain annually, and 24 separate rail lines enter the property.

Schumer was joined by Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, and from RiverWright, Rick Smith III and Kevin Townsell. Schumer also stood with the AutoMobius, one of Buffalo's art cars which operates on 10 % Ethanol blend. This fuel blend contains more oxygen than petroleum-only based gasoline which improves combustion and reduces emissions of harmful compounds such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and carcinogens like benzene and toluene. A 10 % ethanol blend reduces particulate matter emissions by 50 percent, carbon monoxide emissions by 30 percent and emissions of other toxic compounds by 13 percent.

http://schumer.senate.gov/SchumerWebsite/pressroom/record.cfm?id=262417&&year=2006&