[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 39 (Thursday, March 5, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2833-S2834]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. WYDEN:
   S. 536. A bill to amend the Clean Air Act to modify the definition 
of the term ``renewable biomass''; to the Committee on Environment and 
Public Works.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, there is an old saying about ``not seeing 
the forest for the trees'' that applies to the current myopic policies 
on biomass from Federal lands. Right now, instead of helping to provide 
part of the solution to our Nation's dependence on foreign oil, biomass 
from Federal lands allowed to build up in the woods or worse become 
fuel for catastrophic fires. Instead of being part of the solution for 
energy independence, it is creating a problem for forest management and 
communities that border on Federal forests.
  I rise today to introduce a bill that would allow woody debris and 
plant material--or ``biomass''--from Federal lands to become part of 
the solution to America's energy problems and to create new economic 
opportunities to help sustain our rural communities. This legislation 
would amend the Clean Air Act to modify the definition of the term 
``renewable biomass'' contained in the Federal Renewable Fuel Standard 
so that biomass from Federal lands is eligible as a fuel source under 
this standard.
  Today, biomass from Federal lands cannot be counted as a renewable 
transportation fuel. The change I am proposing would help tackle a 
number of critical problems--expanding the universe of biomass that can 
be used for fuel, helping pay for programs to reduce dangerous levels 
of dead and dying trees that fuel wildfires, thinning unhealthy, second 
growth forests, providing low-carbon fuels to address climate change, 
and create jobs in increasingly difficult economic times.
  The reason we need this legislation goes back to the 2007 energy 
bill--the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. In that 
legislation, the Congress dramatically expanded the Federal mandate for 
the use of renewable biofuels, such as ethanol from corn and cellulose, 
and biodiesel. Unfortunately, this legislation included a definition of 
renewable biomass that is now part of the Clean Air Act which excluded 
slash and thinning byproducts from Federal lands--all Federal lands. 
This occurred despite the bipartisan work we had undertaken here in the 
Senate and in the Energy and Natural Resources Committee to come up 
with a more commonsense definition. The result is that biomass from 
millions of acres of Federal lands are arbitrarily excluded from 
serving as feedstock for the very renewable biofuels that the mandate 
requires.
  Changing the definition of ``renewable biomass'' for the renewable 
fuels standard is very important to states like Oregon, where the 
Federal Government owns much of the land and where our forests are 
choked and overstocked. Critical work needs to take

[[Page S2834]]

place in these forests and utilizing the excess biomass--small diameter 
trees, limbs and debris--for energy will help us get that work 
accomplished while getting us the added benefit of green energy. These 
byproducts are often a critical energy source for rural Americans, who 
use them in environmentally-friendly wood pellet stoves. But more 
importantly, they are part of the future of clean, renewable fuels--as 
further development of cellulosic ethanol will allow us to use these 
waste materials reclaimed literally from the forest and mill floors. 
Conversely, by excluding biomass from Federal lands, the existing 
mandate places ever more weight on the use of biomass from other 
sources, including the use of food-based corn and grains and private 
forests.

  My bill seeks to utilize biomass from Federal lands in an 
environmentally responsible way. It will protect those natural 
resources that need to be protected, while allowing renewable biomass 
from Federal lands to contribute to our Nation's energy mix. First, my 
bill would allow biomass from National Forests and Bureau of Land 
Management forests to qualify as renewable biomass under the Federal 
Renewable Fuels Standard, but it would continue to exclude old growth 
and biomass from National Parks, Wilderness Areas and other 
environmentally protected areas. Second, the bill would require Federal 
land managers to ensure that the quantities of biomass harvested even 
from these eligible National Forest and BLM lands are sustainable. 
While biomass holds great potential as a clean source of energy, I want 
to ensure that it gets harvested at levels that are truly sustainable 
and that biofuels and bioenergy projects dependent on renewable biomass 
are sized appropriately so that we protect our forests and natural 
resources and ensure that biofuels production facilities will not 
wither and die because of inadequate feedstock supplies.
  I want to be clear that my legislation only addresses the question of 
how the Renewable Fuel Standard treats biomass from Federal lands. It 
does not and it is not intended to reopen or overhaul the Renewable 
Fuels Standard as a whole. It is simply a targeted fix for our Federal 
public lands.
  As we move forward with new energy legislation and work on developing 
additional green energy solutions, I want to ensure that renewable 
biomass is genuinely one of those solutions, including biomass from 
Federal lands. It is my hope that beyond fixing the definition in the 
Clean Air Act for the Renewable Fuels Standard, Congress will include a 
comparable definition in legislation addressing climate change and 
renewable electricity production requirements.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues here in the Senate and 
in the House of Representatives to advance a biomass definition that 
balances sound energy policy with practical and sensible use of our 
forests.
   Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                 S. 536

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. RENEWABLE BIOMASS.

       (a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that 
     Congress should seek to establish a consistent definition for 
     the term ``renewable biomass''.
       (b) 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 clauses (v) through (vii) as clauses 
     (vi) through (viii), respectively;
       (2) by inserting after clause (iv) the following:
       ``(v) Slash and precommercial sized thinnings harvested--

       ``(I) in environmentally sustainable quantities, as 
     determined by the appropriate Federal land manager; and
       ``(II) from National Forest System land or public land (as 
     defined in section 103 of the Federal Land Policy and 
     Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702), other than--

       ``(aa) components of the National Wilderness Preservation 
     System;
       ``(bb) wilderness study areas;
       ``(cc) inventoried roadless areas and all unroaded areas of 
     at least 5,000 acres;
       ``(dd) old growth stands;
       ``(ee) components of the National Landscape Conservation 
     System; and
       ``(ff) national monuments.''; and
       (3) by striking clause (vi) (as redesignated by paragraph 
     (1)) and inserting the following:
       ``(vi) Biomass obtained on land in any ownership from the 
     immediate vicinity of any building, camp, or public 
     infrastructure facility (including roads), at risk from 
     wildfire.''.
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