[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 195 (Friday, November 5, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1206-E1207]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               BIOMASS & BIOGAS FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES ACT

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                          HON. JOHN GARAMENDI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, November 5, 2021

  Mr. GARAMENDI. Madam Speaker, today I introduce the ``Biomass and 
Biogas for Electric Vehicles Act.''
  In passing the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (Public 
Law 110-140), Congress made electricity from renewable biomass--
including biogas and waste-to-energy from feedstocks such as separated 
yard or food waste--eligible under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). 
Despite years of Congressional urging, the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency (USEPA) has yet to approve a single biomass facility 
under the program. Some applications for biomass electricity--known as 
``pathway petitions'' under the RFS program--have been pending now for 
more than 7 years.
  I have long supported a utility-scale subsidy for biomass electricity 
to create a market for byproducts of proper forest management and 
hazardous fuels reduction in fire-prone states like California. This 
legislation fulfills that objective by working within the framework of 
the existing Renewable Fuel Standard, which already includes 
electricity generated from eligible feedstocks used as a transportation 
fuel.
  Under current law and USEPA regulations, ``renewable biomass'' is 
already defined to include biogas, namely methane captured from 
livestock and agricultural byproducts, food waste, or residential yard 
waste. As such, my ``Biomass and Biogas for Electric Vehicles Act'' 
would complement the significant investments California is making under 
the State's successful Dairy Digester Research and Development Program.
  Currently, the USEPA requires facilities to prove with near-perfect 
traceability that the electricity generated is used as a transportation 
fuel to participate in the RFS program. Most renewable biomass 
facilities are selling electricity into the grid and, therefore, cannot

[[Page E1207]]

prove definitively that each electron generated is used exclusively by 
electric vehicles.
  The ``Biomass and Biogas for Electric Vehicles Act'' would enable 
biomass facilities generating renewable electricity to finally 
participate in the RFS program. Instead of requiring that biomass 
facilities meet the impossible task of proving that the electricity 
generated and sold into the grid is used directly as a transportation 
fuel, my legislation directs the USEPA to extrapolate the percentage of 
total U.S. electricity generation used for charging electric vehicles. 
The USEPA would then set a quarterly quota for each biomass facility 
registered under the RFS program, limited by each facility's maximum 
design capacity and the amount of electricity generated.
  I recognize that some biomass and biogas facilities, specifically 
those with on-site electric vehicle charging stations, can meet the 
USEPA's current traceability requirement. That is why my legislation 
would grandfather any facilities with a written contract or affidavit 
accepted by USEPA demonstrating that the electricity generated is used 
as transportation fuel.
  My legislation would also authorize USEPA to collect a reasonable fee 
from industry to cover the costs of reviewing any applications (pathway 
petitions or facility registration requests) for renewable electricity 
submitted under the RFS program. In a 2016 ``advance notice of proposed 
rulemaking,'' the USEPA cited inadequate agency resources as a major 
impediment to approval of renewable electricity under the RFS program. 
The USEPA could waive these application fees for municipally owned 
biomass or biogas facilities under my bill. This fee-for-service model 
is based on the USEPA's regulatory regime under the Pesticide 
Registration Improvement Act of 2003 (title V of Public Law 108-199), 
which is widely regarded as successful and enjoys broad-based support 
in Congress.
  Lastly, my legislation would make biomass removed from federal 
forestlands eligible under the RFS. Current law only allows biomass 
collected from non-federal lands, including privately owned land, state 
or locally owned public lands, and tribal land held in trust by the 
federal government, to qualify as renewable biomass under the RFS. This 
restriction is arbitrary and hampers market-driven incentives to reduce 
the overload of hazardous fuels for wildfires on our National Forests 
and other federal forestlands. However, I want to be clear that my 
legislation would not open federal forestland to timber harvests or 
commercial hazardous fuels removal where such activities are prohibited 
currently.
  Madam Speaker, I urge all members to cosponsor the ``Biomass and 
Biogas for Electric Vehicles Act.'' As California and other western 
states face increasingly severe and year-round fire seasons due to 
global climate change, we simply must create a market for forest 
byproducts to incentivize much-needed hazardous fuels reduction. 
Renewable electricity from biomass and biogas also helps to reduce our 
nation's greenhouse gas emissions and to transition to a clean energy 
economy. While these measures alone will not solve the climate crisis 
or prevent all catastrophic wildfires, they are undoubtedly part of the 
solution.

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