By ALISON SIDER

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

The Environmental Protection Agency has finalized rules to implement a 2007 congressional mandate that the U.S. increase its renewable fuel production to 36 billion gallons by 2022, from about 11 billion gallons last year.

Another initiative announced last week is intended to bolster the production of energy crops. The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a proposed rule for the Biomass Crop Assistance Program, established under the 2008 Farm Bill, that would subsidize up to 75 percent of the cost of establishing en...