The Hardwood Federation, a wood products industry lobbying group of which the NWFA is a part, is urging constituents to support H.R. 2541: the Silvaculture Regulatory Consistency Act.
According to the Federation, H.R. 2541 will preserve the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) regulation of forest roads under the Clean Water Act by preventing a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to go into effect. In 2011, the Ninth Circuit Court had ruled that forest roads were "point sources" of water pollution, which would require them to maintain industrial discharge permits most often associated with factories and sewage plants. The ruling stood to upend 35 years of EPA policy that said forest roads were not "point sources."
Recently, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee reported a unanimous voice vote in favor of the bill, which was introduced by Reps. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.) and Kurt Schrader (D-OR) and garnered 61 co-sponsors, including many Hardwood Federation supporters.
For more information, contact the Federation's Cary Moon at (202) 463-5186.
