Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., and Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, on March 11 each introduced legislation that aims to allow facilities generating renewable electricity from forest biomass, such as woodchips or sawdust, to participate in the Renewable Fuel Standard. 

The bill, titled the “Biomass for Transportation Fuel Act,” would fully implement the eligibility for electricity generated from renewable biomass, including biogas, to participate in the RFS. The legislation directs the U.S. EPA to approve a RFS pathway for renewable electricity for biomass, but only for feedstocks already eligible under the program, such as agricultural waste, forest byproducts, and municipal/commercial food waste. The bill would make biomass removed from federal forestlands as part of wildfire hazard reduction efforts to be eligible under the RFS. Currently, only biomass collected from non-federal lands is considered eligible RFS feedstock.

Garamendi introduced the House version of the bill, H.R. 7609, on March 11. The bill was referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. To date, Reps. Jared Golden, D-Maine, and Ann Kuster, D-N.H., have signed on to cosponsor the House bill. King also introduced the Senate version of the bill, S. 3899, on March 11. That bill is being cosponsored by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and was referred to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.

"I have long supported a utility-scale subsidy for biomass electricity to incentivize proper forest management in fire-prone states like California. As western states face increasingly severe and year-round fire seasons, this will help to reduce the artificially high levels of biomass on our forestlands due to man-made climate change, drought, invasive species like bark beetle outbreaks, and years of mismanagement," Garamendi said. "Renewable electricity from biomass helps to reduce our nation's greenhouse gas emissions and 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. I am thrilled to partner with Senator King on the ‘Biomass for Transportation Fuel Act', which supports good-paying forestry jobs in rural communities from California to Maine."

“Sustainable, science-based management is critical to preserving our forests, but the practice often results in leftover low-value timber that can pose wildfire dangers in drier parts of the country. Finding creative new incentives to keep this biomass off our forests’ floors is integral to the success of our state’s forest products industry and economy,” King said. “The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program already includes forest biomass as part of the program, and the Biomass for Transportation Fuels Act simply requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to fully implement that law and ensure that biomass gets the same treatment as other sources included in the RFS. A more efficient RFS approval process means forest producers are more easily able to dispose of low value timber through the RFS, turning it into alternative fuels. This commonsense legislation is a win-win that will create more renewable fuel and reduce a safety risk.”

The EPA proposed RFS “set” rule, released in December 2022, included provisions that would have allowed some biogas-based forms of renewable electricity to participate in the RFS program via the generation of electric renewable identification numbers (eRINs), but did not address the participation of other forms of biomass-based electricity. The agency, however, failed to finalize its proposed eRIN provisions in the final RFS “set” rule, issued in June 2023. In the rule, EPA cited vastly varied stakeholder positions on the proposal and the complexity of the issue as reasons for delaying implementation of the eRIN provisions. The agency also indicated plans to seek additional input from stakeholders to inform its potential next steps. 

The Biomass for Transportation Fuel Act is endorsed by the RFS Power Coalition, Biomass Power Association, American Biogas Council, Waste to Energy Association, National Association of State Foresters, American Loggers Council, National Alliance of Forest Owners, Business Council for Sustainable Energy, California Biomass Energy Alliance, Milk Producers Council (of California), New York Bioenergy Association, Michigan Biomass (Coalition), Associated California Loggers, Associated Oregon Loggers.

The American Biomass Energy Association, formerly the Biomass Power Association, is applauding introduction of the legislation. 

“We are extremely grateful to Rep. Garamendi and Sen. King for spearheading this bill,” said Carrie Annand, executive director of ABEA. “Some of our members have been waiting five years or more for the EPA to process their RFS pathway petitions for electricity from biomass feedstocks. Expanding eligibility to nonmerchantable wood cleared off federal lands is a common-sense policy proposal that will incentivize the utilization of materials cleared off of federal lands to reduce fire risk. Sen. Shaheen, Rep. Golden and Rep. Kuster also deserve recognition for co-sponsoring this bill. We are incredibly lucky to have the support of these five Congressional leaders.”