[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5087 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5087
To amend the Clean Air Act to modify the definition of renewable
biomass for purposes of the renewable fuel standard, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 22, 2026
Mr. Merkley (for himself, Mrs. Hyde-Smith, Mr. Padilla, Mr. Kennedy,
Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. King, and Ms. Collins) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and
Public Works
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Clean Air Act to modify the definition of renewable
biomass for purposes of the renewable fuel standard, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Wildfire Reduction Market Expansion
Act of 2026''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF RENEWABLE BIOMASS.
Section 211(o)(1)(I) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7545(o)(1)(I))
is amended--
(1) by redesignating each of clauses (i) through (vii) as
subclauses (I) through (VII), respectively, and indenting
appropriately;
(2) in the matter preceding subclause (I) (as so
redesignated), by striking ``The term'' and inserting the
following:
``(i) In general.--The term'';
(3) by striking subclause (II) (as so redesignated) and
inserting the following:
``(II) Materials generated from
forest products manufacturing and wood
products manufacturing, including wood
residuals, paper residuals, sawdust,
wood, wood chips, shavings, bark,
sanderdust, and paper recycling
residuals (excluding paper in the form
and type commonly recycled).'';
(4) by striking subclauses (IV) and (V) (as so
redesignated) and inserting the following:
``(IV) Trees, shrubs, and parts of
trees or shrubs, including slash and
storm debris, from--
``(aa) non-Federal land
that--
``(AA) is managed
under a forest
sustainability or
logging company
certification program;
``(BB) is
classified for State or
local property tax
purposes as forest
land, timberland, or
land in current use for
forestry; or
``(CC) in
accordance with clause
(ii), the landowner
provides to the
Administrator an
attestation that the
land is being managed
for long-term timber
production;
``(bb) land within the
National Forest System (as
defined in section 11(a) of the
Forest and Rangeland Renewable
Resources Planning Act of 1974
(16 U.S.C. 1609(a))) or public
lands (as defined in section
103 of the Federal Land Policy
and Management Act of 1976 (43
U.S.C. 1702)), if the Secretary
of Agriculture or the Secretary
of the Interior, as applicable
and in accordance with clause
(ii), certifies to the
Administrator, directly or
through an authorized officer,
that the materials are--
``(AA) by-products
from commercial or
noncommercial land
management activities
or material generated
from fuel reduction
treatments, ecological
restoration projects,
or pre-commercial
thinning;
``(BB) not
reasonably suitable for
use as a sawlog, as
determined by the
Secretary of
Agriculture or the
Secretary of the
Interior, as
applicable; and
``(CC) sourced in a
manner consistent with
all applicable Federal
laws and regulations
governing forest
management activities
and the applicable
forest plan or resource
management plan; or
``(cc) land--
``(AA) owned by an
Indian tribe; or
``(BB) held in
trust by, or subject to
a restriction against
alienation imposed by,
the United States for
an Indian tribe or
individual Indian.
``(V) Vegetation obtained from--
``(aa) within the
reasonably established
defensible space of a structure
or an infrastructure asset,
including a residential
structure, a commercial
building, and a public
facility, in accordance with
applicable local law or, if
there is no applicable local
law, the most recent
publication of the
International Wildland-Urban
Interface Code of the
International Code Council; or
``(bb) wildfire risk
reduction activities within the
wildland-urban interface (as
defined in section 101 of the
Healthy Forests Restoration Act
of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6511)).'';
and
(5) by adding at the end the following:
``(ii) Certification and attestation
requirements.--A certification or attestation
to the Administrator under this subparagraph
may be in the form of a letter given to the
person seeking to generate credits under this
subsection from--
``(I) with respect to the
attestation required under clause
(i)(IV)(aa)(CC), the non-Federal
landowner; and
``(II) with respect to the
certification required under clause
(i)(IV)(bb), the local office of the
Department of Agriculture or the
Department of the Interior with
authority over the applicable forest
plan or resource management plan.
``(iii) Inclusion.--For the purpose of this
subparagraph, the term `non-Federal land'
includes land owned by a Native Corporation (as
defined in section 3 of the Alaska Native
Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1602)).
``(iv) Savings clause.--Nothing in clause
(i)(IV)(bb) requires the applicable forest plan
or resource management plan to expressly
identify renewable fuel or biomass energy as an
intended end use of the material, provided that
the underlying project, removal, sale, or
disposition of the material is otherwise
authorized and consistent with the applicable
forest plan or resource management plan.''.
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