The IRS Has Published the Table That Sets the Clean Fuel Credit for 2026. Feedstocks Now Have to Come From North America.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued the guidance that determines how much the section 45Z clean fuel production credit is worth in 2026. The announcement, IR-2026-108, came on September 8, 2026 and points to Notice 2026-53, which carries the 2026 emissions rate table and a set of rules reflecting changes made by the Working Families Tax Cuts legislation.

Why one table decides the credit

Section 45Z does not pay a flat amount per gallon. It pays an applicable amount multiplied by an emissions factor, and the emissions factor is derived from the fuel's lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions rate. The statute sets a baseline of 50 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent per mmBTU. The emissions factor is the baseline minus the fuel's emissions rate, divided by the baseline.

• A fuel with an emissions rate of 25 kg CO2e per mmBTU has an emissions factor of 0.5, and earns half the applicable amount.
• A fuel at the 50 kg baseline earns nothing.
• The lower the emissions rate, the larger the credit.

That is why the table matters more than any headline rate. A producer cannot compute the credit without an emissions rate, and for most fuels the rate comes from the table Treasury publishes.

The applicable amounts

Under the statute as described in Treasury's proposed regulations, the applicable amount for non-aviation transportation fuel is $0.20 per gallon, rising to $1.00 per gallon where the qualified facility satisfies the prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements. Sustainable aviation fuel produced before January 1, 2026 carried a higher pair of figures, $0.35 and $1.75. For fuel produced after December 31, 2025, all fuel uses the $0.20 and $1.00 amounts.

The credit applies to transportation fuel produced after December 31, 2024 and sold by December 31, 2029. No credit is available at all unless the producer is registered under section 4101 at the time of production.

What Notice 2026-53 changes

Three substantive changes run through the new guidance, each of which moves a fuel's calculated emissions rate and therefore its credit.

• Indirect land use change emissions are excluded from the rate calculation.
• Eligible transportation fuel must be derived exclusively from feedstocks produced or grown in the United States, Mexico or Canada.
• Negative emissions rates are prohibited, with one exception: fuels derived from animal manure.

The manure carve-out is the reason the guidance sets distinct emissions rates for specific manure feedstocks. The 2026 table covers dairy manure and swine manure. Treasury anticipates updating the model later in 2026 to add poultry and beef manure as primary feedstocks.

Farm practices and the 2025 gap

The guidance also lets qualifying low-carbon agricultural practices be reflected in the emissions calculation, including farm-specific prior manure management practices. That opens a route for the credit to reach growers rather than stopping at the refinery gate.

Because the credit began applying to fuel produced after December 31, 2024 but the Department of Agriculture did not finalise its rules until June 29, 2026, the notice provides a safe harbor for 2025 clean fuel production so that regenerative agricultural practices can be reflected once the USDA rules were in place. Transition relief on nutrient budget requirements covers fuel produced in 2025 and 2026.

This guidance helps unlock billions of dollars for America's agricultural producers.

This article explains how the credit is calculated and does not assess whether any particular producer or project qualifies. Producers should read Notice 2026-53 and the underlying regulations before relying on any rate.