More than 50 organizations gathered on Capitol Hill on March 25 as the SAF Coalition held its Second Annual DC Fly-In, lobbying Congress to restore the sustainable aviation fuel tax credit to $1.75 per gallon through bipartisan legislation that would also extend the 45Z Clean Fuel Production Tax Credit through 2033.
The policy context is direct. Congress’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” reduced the 45Z SAF credit from $1.75 to $1.00 per gallon — a 43% cut that threatens to dampen the investment pipeline behind a significant domestic production surge. According to the SAF Coalition, U.S. SAF output more than doubled in 2025 alone. Sustaining that trajectory requires the capital commitment that only comes with pricing certainty, and a $0.75-per-gallon shortfall is enough to shift project economics from viable to deferred.
The coalition, which spans airlines, fuel producers, agricultural interests, and transportation companies, is backing two bipartisan bills: H.R. 6518 in the House and S. 3759 in the Senate. Both would restore the $1.75/gallon credit and extend the 45Z framework to 2033, giving producers the runway needed to finance and construct facilities that take years to permit and build.
“The growth we’re seeing in the SAF industry is remarkable. Domestic production more than doubled in 2025 alone, and we’re just getting started. Today, our coalition of more than 50 organizations is on Capitol Hill because we believe SAF represents one of the greatest economic opportunities for American farmers and energy producers in a generation.” — Alison Graab, Executive Director, SAF Coalition
SAF Coalition Executive Director Alison Graab tied the lobbying push to rural economic opportunity. “With the right policy support, the United States can lead the sustainable aviation fuel market and ensure that leadership translates directly into jobs, energy independence, and prosperity for rural communities across the country,” she said.
The rural framing is strategic. SAF feedstocks — agricultural residues, energy crops, wood waste, municipal solid waste — are largely sourced from farm and forestry states, and the coalition’s path to a durable bipartisan majority runs through agricultural districts. Projects like Louisiana’s planned $1.4 billion wood-waste SAF facility illustrate exactly the kind of rural economic footprint the credit is designed to unlock.
The 45Z credit sits alongside other federal SAF incentives, including the Renewable Fuel Standard, whose volumes for 2026 and 2027 were recently finalized by the EPA under the SET-2 rule. RFS volumes establish blending obligations, but tax credit stability is what drives the capital allocation decisions that actually build new supply capacity.
The Fly-In’s second edition, larger than the first, signals an industry that has shifted from celebrating early momentum to actively defending the policy foundation beneath it. H.R. 6518 and S. 3759 need co-sponsors. The coalition’s next job is counting votes.
Source: American Ag Network
