Granite State Times

(Washington, DC) - U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) reintroduced the Community Wood Facilities Assistance Act last week with U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA.), Susan Collins (R-ME) and Mark Kelly (D-AZ). The Senators’ bipartisan legislation would support the development of facilities that make use of low-value timber from wildfire hazardous fuels reduction projects.

“The Community Wood Energy and Wood Innovations Grant Program supports the forest products industry, which is crucial to the stewardship of our state’s forests and economic vitality of rural Granite State communities,” said Senator Shaheen. “I’m pleased to reintroduce this legislation with a bipartisan group of Senators to help strengthen this vital program, promote innovation in the forest products industry and create new jobs. I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense legislation that will make a real difference for our forest communities.”

“Addressing the problem of wildfires require a multi-faceted approach, including removing some small trees and other hazardous fuels. Congress has provided billions of dollars for this work through the bipartisan infrastructure law and the Inflation Reduction Act. Our legislation will help maintain this momentum by making it easier to develop sustainable wood and energy projects, strengthening our rural economies and making our forests healthier at the same time,” said Senator Feinstein.

“Throughout Maine’s history, our forest products industry has helped drive local economies and sustain rural communities. As the economy changes, this vital industry is evolving to meet the challenges of the 21st century,” said Senator Collins. “Our bill would make improvements to the Forest Service’s Community Wood Energy and Wood Innovations Grant Program, which helps to promote innovative uses for wood products.”

“The West needs every tool possible to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire. By funding innovative uses of timber left over from foresting thinning projects, our bipartisan legislation would support wildfire mitigation and create jobs across northern Arizona,” said Senator Kelly.

The Community Wood Facilities Assistance Act would:

• Revise the U.S. Forest Service’s Community Wood Energy and Wood Innovations Grant Program by:

• Allowing grants to be used for the construction of new facilities, in addition to making improvements to existing facilities;

• Increasing the authorization from $25 million to $50 million;

• Increasing the maximum grant per facilities from $1 million to $5 million;

• Increasing the federal cost-share from 35 percent to 50 percent;

• Increasing maximum size for community wood energy systems eligible for grant funding from 5 megawatts to 15 megawatts;

• Change the program name to the Community Wood Facilities Grant Program to avoid confusion with the similarly named Wood Innovations Grant Program.

• Revise the U.S. Forest Service’s Wood Innovations Grant Program by:

• Allowing grants to be used for the construction of new facilities, in addition to making improvements to existing facilities;

• Reduce the minimum non-federal cost-share from 50 percent to 33 percent.

A companion bill was introduced in the House of Representatives in March by Representatives Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA-03), Chellie Pingree (ME-01), Dan Newhouse (WA-04) and Annie Kuster (NH-02).

Full text of the bill is available here.

Senator Shaheen has long advocated for America’s forests and initiatives that would survey and repurpose biomass for clean energy initiatives. In the government funding bill for fiscal year (FY) 2023, Shaheen secured $40 million for the Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC), which is a $5 million increase above the FY 2022 funding level and the highest the program has ever been funded. The NBRC helps address community and economic development needs throughout the Northern Forest region, which includes supporting the infrastructure needs of the forest products industry.

Original source can be found here.