I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1111 

To promote as a renewable energy source the use of biomass removed from 

forest lands in connection with hazardous fuel reduction projects on 

certain Federal land, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 23, 2009 

Mr. REHBERG introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To promote as a renewable energy source the use of biomass 

removed from forest lands in connection with hazardous 

fuel reduction projects on certain Federal land, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Wildfire Risk Reduc5 tion and Renewable Biomass Utilization Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROMOTION OF USE OF BIOMASS REMOVED 

2 THROUGH HAZARDOUS FUEL REDUCTION 

3 PROJECTS AS ENERGY SOURCE. 

4 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find5 ings: 

6 (1) Large-scale insect infestations in several re7 gions of the United States, combined with other fac8 tors, such as accumulation of fuel materials, in9 creased settlement in and near forested areas, and 

10 prolonged drought, have increased the likelihood of 

11 unusually severe wildfires that pose a threat to lives 

12 and property in nearby communities. 

13 (2) The Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 

14 2003 (Public Law 108–148; 16 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.) 

15 is intended to facilitate removal of biomass from for16 est lands, particularly those located within the 

17 wildland-urban interface, in order to reduce the fuels 

18 for severe wildfires. 

19 (3) Reducing the risk of severe wildfires would 

20 be further facilitated if the biomass removed in con21 nection with hazardous fuel reduction projects under 

22 the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 were 

23 considered a source of renewable fuel for purposes of 

24 the renewable fuel standard established by subtitle A 

25 of title II of the Energy Independence and Security 

26 Act of 2007 (Public Law 110–140). 


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1 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to re2 vise the definition of renewable biomass established by sec3 tion 201 of the Energy Independence and Security Act 

4 of 2007 so as to facilitate and encourage the use of bio5 mass removed from certain additional forest lands as an 

6 energy source, in order to reduce the risk of severe wildfire 

7 to communities, infrastructure, and water supplies. 

8 (c) EXPANSION OF DEFINITION OF RENEWABLE

9 BIOMASS TO INCLUDE CERTAIN FOREST BIOMASS.—Sub10 paragraph (I) of section 211(o)(1) of the Clean Air Act 

11 (42 U.S.C. 7545(o)(1)), as amended by section 201 of the 

12 Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (Public 

13 Law 110–140; 121 Stat. 1519), is amended by adding at 

14 the end the following new clause: 

15 ‘‘(viii) Biomass removed in connection 

16 with an authorized hazardous fuel reduc17 tion project, as defined in paragraph (2) of 

18 section 101 of the Healthy Forests Res19 toration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6511), 

20 from lands within the wildland-urban inter21 face, as defined in paragraph (16) of such 

22 section, except that the term— 

23 ‘‘(I) does not include biomass re24 moved from Federal land containing 

25 old growth forest or late successional 


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1 forest unless the Secretary of the In2 terior or the Secretary of Agriculture, 

3 as appropriate, determines that the 

4 removal of organic material from such 

5 land is appropriate for the applicable 

6 forest type and maximizes the reten7 tion of late-successional and large and 

8 old growth trees, late-successional and 

9 old growth forest structure, and late10 successional and old growth forest 

11 composition; and 

12 ‘‘(II) does not apply to biomass 

13 removed from Federal land on which 

14 the removal of vegetation is prohib15 ited, including components of the Na16 tional Wilderness Preservation Sys17 tem, wilderness study areas, inven18 toried roadless areas, components of 

19 the National Landscape Conservation 

20 System, units of the National Park 

21 System, or National Monuments.’’. 

Æ 


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