Greetings!
Last Friday, the House of Representatives passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which includes several provisions in support of biomass.
The bill allocates $2,854,000,000 billion for the National Forest System, of which:
- Hazardous fuels reduction efforts are funded at $100 million per year through 2026,
- the USFS Wood Innovation Program and Community Wood Energy Program receive an additional $12 million annually through 2026,
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$400 million of financial assistance for facilities that purchase and process byproducts from ecosystem restoration projects, including sawmills or other wood-processing facility in close proximity to a unit of Federal land, and
- $100 million each to the Agriculture Secretary and Interior Secretary to modify and remove flammable vegetation on Federal land and for using materials from treatments, to the extent practicable, to produce biochar and other innovative wood products.
In addition, the bill creates:
- a requirement to treat 10,000,000 acres at high fire risk by 2027
- a directive to prioritize lands for treatment that have a sawmill or other wood-processing facility in close proximity
- a requirement to identify areas where the presence of a sawmill or other wood-processing facility would help with costs of vegetation removal, and
- categorical exclusions from environmental assessments or environmental impact statements for forest treatments, including selling biomass fuel, where the Secretary determines a fuel break is needed.
President Biden is expected to sign the bill shortly.
