BIOMASS HUB

Climatewire reports that a trio of lawmakers have introduced a bill that would amend the Clean Air Act and block the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions.  The bill would also amend the EPA’s renewable fuel standard (RFS) to exclude activities relating to international indirect land use change from lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions calculations.  Finally, the bill would expand the definition of “renewable biomass” under the Clean Air Act for the purposes of the RFS to include “materials, pre-commercial thinnings, or invasive species from National Forest System land and public lands” for the purposes of reducing forest fires and protecting ecosystem health.

The bill, sponsored by Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson (D-MN), Ike Skelton (D-MO), and Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO), is the latest effort to block a regulatory hijack of GHG mitigation efforts and stall EPA climate rules.  Biomass Intel reported last month that Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) introduced a disapproval resolution that would effectively veto EPA’s determination that GHGs threaten human health and welfare.

With the Obama Administration charting an aggressive pathway for biofuels yesterday, GHG regulation — whether via an unlikely legislative effort around cap-and-trade or the EPA’s GHG tailoring rule — will be a necessary condition to expanding the market for renewable fuels.

More information is available here.

A PDF of the bill is available here.