In a June ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court aligned itself with the American Forest & Paper Association and other forest product groups, ruling that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency needed to further evaluate its approach to regulating emissions from biomass.
The EPA, in 2010, released its rule on regulating greenhouse gases from stationary sources. The AF&PA disagreed with the rule because it treated biogenic emissions the same as fossil fuel emissions; the AF&PA arguing that emissions from burning wood versus burning coal should be treated differently.
"AF&PA was concerned that EPA's approach did not adequately reflect the realities facing U.S. paper and wood products manufacturers," said AF&PA President and CEO Donna Harman in a statement. "We operate in highly competitive global markets, and adding to the cumulative regulatory burden our industry already faces harms our ability to invest in forward-looking technologies for new, innovative, high-value products."
The EPA is currently producing a framework to clarify what biomass qualifies as carbon-neutral. The framework will inform permit issuance under the Clean Air Act.
"We are anxious for this framework to be completed, as the paper and wood products manufacturing industries produce, on average, about two-thirds of our energy from biomass," said Harman. "We believe the science supports recognition of the inherent carbon neutrality of manufacturing residuals for their GHG-reduction benefits and of biomass in general when growth exceeds harvest, and we hope that EPA will agree."
