Sponsors (18)
The bill clarifies and streamlines which wood- and paper-manufacturing residuals qualify as renewable biomass and eases local certification pathways—helping producers and landowners access credits—but tightens feedstock definitions and decentralizes verification, which may cut some suppliers out of markets and create uneven environmental oversight.
Manufacturers and renewable-fuel producers gain a clearer, explicitly listed set of eligible wood- and paper-manufacturing residuals (e.g., sawdust, wood chips, bark), reducing regulatory uncertainty when generating renewable-fuel credits.
Non-Federal landowners and local USDA/DOI offices can provide certifications or letters to EPA to support biomass eligibility, simplifying the paperwork path for qualifying biomass from authorized removals.
Landowners and rural communities retain flexibility in forest/resource management because plans need not explicitly name biomass/renewable fuel as an intended end use for removals to qualify, preserving existing management options while enabling biomass use.
Some firms and communities that supplied certain feedstocks (notably some recycled paper streams) may lose eligibility and associated revenue or renewable-fuel credit opportunities due to a narrowed definition of eligible biomass.
Relying on letters or certifications from non-Federal landowners or local agency offices could produce inconsistent verification standards across regions, increasing compliance risk and disputes over eligibility for applicants.
Allowing biomass removals to qualify under plans that do not expressly name biomass as an intended end use could, if oversight is uneven, enable additional harvests or disposals that raise local environmental or wildfire concerns.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Narrows and clarifies the Clean Air Act's "renewable biomass" definition, lists eligible forest/wood residuals, and sets who can certify materials to EPA.
Official title: To amend the Clean Air Act to modify the definition of renewable biomass for purposes of the renewable fuel standard, and for other purposes.
Introduced July 22, 2026 by Cliff Bentz · Last progress July 22, 2026
Amends the Clean Air Act definition of "renewable biomass" to reorganize clause structure, explicitly list certain forest- and wood-products manufacturing residuals as qualifying materials, narrow and clarify how trees, shrubs, and vegetation qualify, and add procedures for who may certify materials to the EPA. It also clarifies that removal or disposition of material consistent with an existing forest or resource management plan qualifies even if the plan does not specifically name renewable fuel or biomass energy as an intended use. The change narrows and clarifies which materials count as renewable biomass and establishes permissible certification sources and a savings clause about management plans; it affects producers, energy and biomass fuel users, forest managers, and agencies that will review certifications and compliance with the Clean Air Act definition.