U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Acting Secretary Chuck Conner and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Samuel Bodman today announced the appointment of six new members and the reappointment of seven members to serve on its Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee for a term of three years. The Committee was established by the Biomass Research and Development Act of 2000 to assist USDA and DOE in meeting important national goals for a healthier rural economy and improved national energy security.

The Committee provides expert advice on strategic planning; the technical focus and direction of requests for proposals issued under the Biomass Research and Development Initiative; procedures for reviewing and evaluating proposals for funding; and encouraging closer collaboration among federal and state agencies, industry and growers.  The Committee holds meetings quarterly, with the next meeting scheduled for February 6-7, 2008, in Washington, DC.

Members of the Committee represent backgrounds such as the biofuels industry, academia with expertise in biobased fuels and products, commodity trade associations, environmental and conservations organizations and State governments.  Such a diversity of backgrounds ensures that funds authorized under the Initiative are used in a manner consistent with the Initiative’s objectives, and ensure that solicitations have objective evaluative criteria with no areas of special interest.

Newly appointed members include:

    * Gil Gutknecht, Co-Chair, Consultant, Rochester, Minn.;
    * Richard Hamilton, Chief Executive Officer, Ceres, Inc., Thousand Oaks, Calif.;
    * Jay S. Levenstein, Deputy Commissioner, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Tallahassee, Fla.;
    * Shirley J. Neff, President and Chief Executive Officer, Association of Oil Pipe Lines, Washington, D.C.;
    * Tom Simpson, Executive Director, Railway Supply Institute, Washington, D.C.;
    * Richard F. Timmons, President, American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association, Washington, D.C.