[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2790 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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115th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2790
To amend the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, to require
the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a community wood energy and
wood innovation program, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 26, 2018
Mrs. Shaheen (for herself and Ms. Collins) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, to require
the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a community wood energy and
wood innovation program, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Community Wood Energy Innovation Act
of 2018''.
SEC. 2. COMMUNITY WOOD ENERGY AND WOOD INNOVATION PROGRAM.
Section 9013 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002
(7 U.S.C. 8113) is amended to read as follows:
``SEC. 9013. COMMUNITY WOOD ENERGY AND WOOD INNOVATION PROGRAM.
``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Community wood energy system.--
``(A) In general.--The term `community wood energy
system' means an energy system that--
``(i) produces useful--
``(I) thermal energy; or
``(II) combined thermal energy and
electricity, where thermal energy is
the primary energy produced;
``(ii) services--
``(I) public facilities owned or
operated by State or local governments,
including schools, town halls,
libraries, and other public buildings;
or
``(II) private or nonprofit
facilities, including commercial and
business facilities, such as hospitals,
office buildings, apartment buildings,
and manufacturing and industrial
buildings; and
``(iii) uses woody biomass, including
residuals from wood processing facilities, as
the primary fuel.
``(B) Inclusions.--The term `community wood energy
system' includes--
``(i) single facility central heating
systems;
``(ii) district heating systems serving
multiple buildings;
``(iii) combined heat and electric systems,
where thermal energy is the primary energy
produced; and
``(iv) other related biomass energy
systems, as determined by the Secretary.
``(2) Eligible entity.--The term `eligible entity' means--
``(A) a State;
``(B) a local government;
``(C) a nonprofit entity; or
``(D) a private commercial entity.
``(3) Eligible project.--The term `eligible project' means
a project described in subsection (b)(2).
``(4) Innovative wood product facility.--The term
`innovative wood product facility' means a manufacturing or
processing plant or mill that produces--
``(A) building components or systems that use large
panelized wood construction, including mass timber;
``(B) wood products derived from nanotechnology or
other new technology processes, as determined by the
Secretary; or
``(C) other innovative wood products that use wood
that is low-value and low-quality, as determined by the
Secretary (referred to in this section as `low-value,
low-quality wood').
``(5) Mass timber.--The term `mass timber' includes--
``(A) cross-laminated timber;
``(B) nail laminated timber;
``(C) glue laminated timber;
``(D) laminated strand lumber; and
``(E) laminated veneer lumber.
``(6) Secretary.--The term Secretary means the Secretary,
acting through the Chief of the Forest Service.
``(b) Grant Program.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall establish a program,
to be known as the `Community Wood Energy and Wood Innovation
Program', to provide to eligible entities grants to carry out
eligible projects described in paragraph (2).
``(2) Eligible projects.--
``(A) In general.--An eligible entity that receives
a grant under paragraph (1) shall use the grant to
install a community wood energy system or to build an
innovative wood product facility in an area in which
the market for low-value, low-quality wood used by the
community wood energy system or innovative wood product
facility has declined.
``(B) Limitation.--An eligible entity that receives
a grant under paragraph (1) may only use the grant to
install a community wood energy system that does not
exceed a nameplate capacity of 10 megawatts of thermal
energy or combined thermal and electric energy.
``(3) Selection of grant recipients.--
``(A) Applications.--An eligible entity desiring a
grant under paragraph (1) shall submit to the Secretary
an application at such time, in such manner, and
containing such information as the Secretary may
require, including a detailed plan that describes the
engineering and design work to be carried out for the
proposed eligible project.
``(B) Selection.--The Secretary shall award grants
under paragraph (1) on a competitive basis, taking into
account--
``(i) the energy efficiency of the proposed
eligible project;
``(ii) the cost effectiveness of the
proposed eligible project;
``(iii) whether the proposed eligible
project represents best-in-class commercially
available technology;
``(iv) whether the applicant has
demonstrated a high likelihood of the eligible
project succeeding, as demonstrated in the plan
required as part of the application under
subparagraph (A); and
``(v) other technical, economic,
conservation, and environmental criteria that
the Secretary considers appropriate.
``(C) Prioritization.--In selecting eligible
entities for grants under subparagraph (B), the
Secretary shall give priority to applicants proposing
eligible projects that--
``(i) are located in areas in which markets
are needed for the low-value, low-quality wood;
``(ii) are located in areas with limited
access to natural gas pipelines;
``(iii) include the use or retrofitting of
existing sawmill facilities located in counties
in which the average annual unemployment rate
exceeded the national average unemployment rate
by greater than 1 percent in the previous
calendar year; or
``(iv) are located in areas in which
markets will aid with forest restoration.
``(c) Funding Requirements.--
``(1) Cap on capital costs.--
``(A) In general.--Except as provided in
subparagraph (B), the total installed capital cost of
an eligible project that receives a grant under
subsection (b)(1) shall not exceed $1,000,000.
``(B) Exception.--The Secretary may award a grant
to an eligible entity for an eligible project the total
installed capital cost of which exceeds the cap
described in subparagraph (A) but does not exceed
$1,500,000 if, as determined by the Secretary, special
circumstances warrant such a grant, such as the
eligible project being carried out at a school or
hospital located in a low-income community.
``(2) Cost-sharing requirements.--
``(A) Federal share.--
``(i) In general.--Except as provided in
clause (ii), the Federal share of the installed
capital cost of an eligible project carried out
by an eligible entity that receives a grant
under subsection (b)(1) shall be not greater
than 35 percent.
``(ii) Exception.--The Federal share of the
installed capital cost of an eligible project
carried out by an eligible entity that receives
a grant under subsection (b)(1) may be not
greater than 50 percent if the Secretary
determines that special circumstances warrant
such a Federal share, such as the eligible
project being carried out at a school or
hospital located in a low-income community.
``(B) Non-federal share.--The non-Federal share of
the installed capital cost of an eligible project
carried out by an eligible entity that receives a grant
under subsection (b)(1) shall be not less than the
Federal share provided under clause (i) or (ii) of
subparagraph (A), as applicable.
``(d) Report to Congress.--Not later than December 31, 2019, and
not less frequently than once every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary
shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the
Senate, the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the
Senate, the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of
Representatives, and the Committee on Agriculture of the House of
Representatives a report that--
``(1) analyzes the impact of the Community Wood Energy and
Wood Innovation Program on supporting market investments in
low-value, low-quality wood; and
``(2) identifies specific opportunities and measures
necessary to enhance support for low-value, low-quality wood.
``(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--
``(1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated
to the Secretary to carry out this section $25,000,000 for each
of fiscal years 2019 through 2023, to remain available until
expended.
``(2) Limitation.--The Secretary may use not greater than
25 percent of amounts made available under paragraph (1) to
make grants to eligible entities to build innovative wood
product facilities, unless the Secretary has received no other
appropriate applications for grants to install community wood
energy systems.''.
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