[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 67 (Tuesday, May 11, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E911]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E911]]



         INTRODUCTION OF THE BIOMASS ENERGY EQUITY ACT OF 1999

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. WALLY HERGER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 11, 1999

  Mr. HERGER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join with my colleague, Mr. 
Matsui, and our cosponsors--Mr. McCrery, Mr. Camp, Mr. Foley, Mr. 
Weller, Mr. Neal, and Mr. Thomas--to announce the introduction of H.R. 
1731, The Biomass Energy Equity Act of 1999, legislation that will help 
sustain the economic and environmental benefits provided to the public 
by the biomass power industry in the United States. This bill is a new 
and improved version of H.R. 4407 that we introduced in the 105th 
Congress. Also, I am pleased to announce that a companion bill, S. 984, 
has been introduced in the Senate by Senators Collins and Boxer.
  The biomass power industry is a unique source of renewable 
electricity. It generates electricity by combusting wood waste and 
other nonhazardous, organic materials under environmentally controlled 
conditions as an alternative to disposal or open-incineration of these 
materials. In effect, the biomass power industry makes constructive use 
of waste materials that would otherwise become a public liability.
  Mr. Speaker, the organic materials used as fuel by this industry are 
gathered from the agricultural and forest-related sectors of our 
economy and from our urban waste streams. In addition to the jobs that 
are generated by this activity, a range of quantifiable benefits arise: 
the risk and severity of forest fires is diminished, air pollution from 
open burning of agricultural residues is avoided, and landfill space is 
preserved. In the absence of this $7 billion per year industry, the 
nation would face a series of negative consequences above and beyond 
the loss of the renewable electricity itself.
  Congress recognized the importance of the biomass power industry when 
it enacted a biomass energy production tax credit in 1992. 
Unfortunately, the production tax credit provided by this code 
section--due to expire this year--has never been accessible to the 
biomass power industry due to excessively narrow drafting. Our 
legislation corrects this defect in order to recognize and retain the 
public benefits, including the national security and system reliability 
benefits, of this important industry.
  Mr. Speaker, when I introduced this bill last year I truly believed 
that this is a ``good government'' issue whose clear merits and 
environmental benefits transcend partisan and regional politics. Today, 
as I reintroduce the Biomass Energy Equity Act, I remain convinced of 
the merits of the proposal, and I would urge all of my colleagues--on 
both sides of the aisle--to cosponsor this important and much-needed 
legislation.

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