3.0.0 1713 2023-01-11T13:17:58Z 2023-01-11T13:17:58Z Senate S S 2009-09-24 111 sseg00 Energy and Natural Resources Committee Senate Standing Referred to 2009-09-24T21:32:18Z Water Efficiency via Carbon Harvesting and Restoration (WECHAR) Act of 2009 111 3748 HR 2010-06-15 Referred to the Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy, and Research. Identical bill CRS 2009-09-24 sseg00 Energy and Natural Resources Committee Senate Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. (text of measure as introduced: CR S9848-9850) IntroReferral 2009-09-24 Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S9843-9844) IntroReferral B00100 9 Library of Congress 2009-09-24 Introduced in Senate IntroReferral 10000 9 Library of Congress R000146 Sen. Reid, Harry [D-NV] HARRY REID D NV M. N B000243 Sen. Baucus, Max [D-MT] MAX BAUCUS D MT SIEBEN 2009-09-24 True H000338 Sen. Hatch, Orrin G. [R-UT] ORRIN HATCH R UT GRANT 2009-09-24 True T000464 Sen. Tester, Jon [D-MT] Jon Tester D MT 2009-09-24 True U000039 Sen. Udall, Tom [D-NM] TOM UDALL D NM 2009-09-24 True F000062 Sen. Feinstein, Dianne [D-CA] Dianne Feinstein D CA 2009-10-29 False Energy Agricultural marketing and promotion Agricultural research Alternative and renewable resources Climate change and greenhouse gases Ecology Energy research Environmental assessment, monitoring, research Environmental technology Forests, forestry, trees Government lending and loan guarantees Horticulture and plants Hydrology and hydrography Land use and conservation Water use and supply Energy 00 2009-09-24 Introduced in Senate 2010-01-16T19:17:04Z Water Efficiency via Carbon Harvesting and Restoration (WECHAR) Act of 2009 - Requires the Director of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) to conduct resources assessments that collect and synthesize interagency and state data to quantify: (1) invasive plant species and excess biomass (plant matter targeted for removal from public land to promote ecosystem health) in the form of dangerous fuel loads on public land that can be used for feedstock (plant matter or materials that serve as the raw material for the production of biochar and bioenergy); (2) estimated carbon content in that feedstock; (3) estimated potential biochar (charcoal or black carbon derived from organic matter through pyrolysis) and bioenergy (hydrocarbons derived from organic matter through pyrolysis) producible from that feedstock; and (4) potential water savings resulting from removal of invasive plant species and excess biomass on public land, by watershed.

Directs the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to each: (1) establish a program to provide guarantees of loans by private institutions to develop and optimize commercially and technologically viable biochar production units, to produce, respectively, four and two units for deployment to remote landscapes, and for the construction or acquisition of biochar production facilities, provided the loan applicants will be dedicated primarily to contract restoration work with the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, or Forest Service using pinyon pine and juniper feedstock in the Great Basin, tamarisk feedstock in the Mojave Desert, or excess biomass feedstock, such as trees killed by bark beetle infestations in the Intermountain West; and (2) initiate three-year programs to employ such biochar production units in pilot applications in various U.S. climates and ecosystems.

Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to provide competitive grants to conduct research and analysis: (1) to identify attributes and composition profiles of biochar and bioenergy for various uses; (2) to identify potential uses and markets for biochar and bioenergy; (3) relating to environmental benefits and impacts of biochar and bioenergy use; and (4) regarding potential uses of biochar in landscape restoration.

]]> Water Efficiency via Carbon Harvesting and Restoration (WECHAR) Act of 2009 Display Title Water Efficiency via Carbon Harvesting and Restoration (WECHAR) Act of 2009 Official Title as Introduced A bill to establish loan guarantee programs to develop biochar technology using excess plant biomass, to establish biochar demonstration projects on public land, and for other purposes. Introduced in Senate IS Short Titles as Introduced Water Efficiency via Carbon Harvesting and Restoration (WECHAR) Act of 2009 Introduced in Senate 2009-09-24T04:00:00Z https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-111s1713is/xml/BILLS-111s1713is.xml 2009-09-24 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. (text of measure as introduced: CR S9848-9850) text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress This file contains bill summaries and statuses for federal legislation. A bill summary describes the most significant provisions of a piece of legislation and details the effects the legislative text may have on current law and federal programs. Bill summaries are authored by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress. As stated in Public Law 91-510 (2 USC 166 (d)(6)), one of the duties of CRS is "to prepare summaries and digests of bills and resolutions of a public general nature introduced in the Senate or House of Representatives". For more information, refer to the User Guide that accompanies this file.