II 

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. 

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 ‘‘Community Wood En5 ergy Innovation Act of 2018’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. COMMUNITY WOOD ENERGY AND WOOD INNOVA2 TION PROGRAM. 

3 Section 9013 of the Farm Security and Rural Invest4 ment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8113) is amended to read 

5 as follows: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 9013. COMMUNITY WOOD ENERGY AND WOOD INNO7 VATION PROGRAM. 

8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 ‘‘(1) COMMUNITY WOOD ENERGY SYSTEM.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘community 

11 wood energy system’ means an energy system 

12 that— 

13 ‘‘(i) produces useful— 

14 ‘‘(I) thermal energy; or 

15 ‘‘(II) combined thermal energy 

16 and electricity, where thermal energy 

17 is the primary energy produced; 

18 ‘‘(ii) services— 

19 ‘‘(I) public facilities owned or op20 erated by State or local governments, 

21 including schools, town halls, libraries, 

22 and other public buildings; or 

23 ‘‘(II) private or nonprofit facili24 ties, including commercial and busi25 ness facilities, such as hospitals, office 

26 buildings, apartment buildings, and 


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1 manufacturing and industrial build2 ings; and 

3 ‘‘(iii) uses woody biomass, including 

4 residuals from wood processing facilities, 

5 as the primary fuel. 

6 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘community 

7 wood energy system’ includes— 

8 ‘‘(i) single facility central heating sys9 tems; 

10 ‘‘(ii) district heating systems serving 

11 multiple buildings; 

12 ‘‘(iii) combined heat and electric sys13 tems, where thermal energy is the primary 

14 energy produced; and 

15 ‘‘(iv) other related biomass energy 

16 systems, as determined by the Secretary. 

17 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en18 tity’ means— 

19 ‘‘(A) a State; 

20 ‘‘(B) a local government; 

21 ‘‘(C) a nonprofit entity; or 

22 ‘‘(D) a private commercial entity. 

23 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE PROJECT.—The term ‘eligible 

24 project’ means a project described in subsection 

25 (b)(2). 


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1 ‘‘(4) INNOVATIVE WOOD PRODUCT FACILITY.— 

2 The term ‘innovative wood product facility’ means a 

3 manufacturing or processing plant or mill that pro4 duces— 

5 ‘‘(A) building components or systems that 

6 use large panelized wood construction, including 

7 mass timber; 

8 ‘‘(B) wood products derived from nano9 technology or other new technology processes, 

10 as determined by the Secretary; or 

11 ‘‘(C) other innovative wood products that 

12 use wood that is low-value and low-quality, as 

13 determined by the Secretary (referred to in this 

14 section as ‘low-value, low-quality wood’). 

15 ‘‘(5) MASS TIMBER.—The term ‘mass timber’ 

16 includes— 

17 ‘‘(A) cross-laminated timber; 

18 ‘‘(B) nail laminated timber; 

19 ‘‘(C) glue laminated timber; 

20 ‘‘(D) laminated strand lumber; and 

21 ‘‘(E) laminated veneer lumber. 

22 ‘‘(6) SECRETARY.—The term Secretary means 

23 the Secretary, acting through the Chief of the For24 est Service. 

25 ‘‘(b) GRANT PROGRAM.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab2 lish a program, to be known as the ‘Community 

3 Wood Energy and Wood Innovation Program’, to 

4 provide to eligible entities grants to carry out eligible 

5 projects described in paragraph (2). 

6 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that 

8 receives a grant under paragraph (1) shall use 

9 the grant to install a community wood energy 

10 system or to build an innovative wood product 

11 facility in an area in which the market for low12 value, low-quality wood used by the community 

13 wood energy system or innovative wood product 

14 facility has declined. 

15 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—An eligible entity that 

16 receives a grant under paragraph (1) may only 

17 use the grant to install a community wood en18 ergy system that does not exceed a nameplate 

19 capacity of 10 megawatts of thermal energy or 

20 combined thermal and electric energy. 

21 ‘‘(3) SELECTION OF GRANT RECIPIENTS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) APPLICATIONS.—An eligible entity 

23 desiring a grant under paragraph (1) shall sub24 mit to the Secretary an application at such 

25 time, in such manner, and containing such inVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:00 May 04, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2790.IS S2790

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1 formation as the Secretary may require, includ2 ing a detailed plan that describes the engineer3 ing and design work to be carried out for the 

4 proposed eligible project. 

5 ‘‘(B) SELECTION.—The Secretary shall 

6 award grants under paragraph (1) on a com7 petitive basis, taking into account— 

8 ‘‘(i) the energy efficiency of the pro9 posed eligible project; 

10 ‘‘(ii) the cost effectiveness of the pro11 posed eligible project; 

12 ‘‘(iii) whether the proposed eligible 

13 project represents best-in-class commer14 cially available technology; 

15 ‘‘(iv) whether the applicant has dem16 onstrated a high likelihood of the eligible 

17 project succeeding, as demonstrated in the 

18 plan required as part of the application 

19 under subparagraph (A); and 

20 ‘‘(v) other technical, economic, con21 servation, and environmental criteria that 

22 the Secretary considers appropriate. 

23 ‘‘(C) PRIORITIZATION.—In selecting eligi24 ble entities for grants under subparagraph (B), 


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1 the Secretary shall give priority to applicants 

2 proposing eligible projects that— 

3 ‘‘(i) are located in areas in which mar4 kets are needed for the low-value, low-qual5 ity wood; 

6 ‘‘(ii) are located in areas with limited 

7 access to natural gas pipelines; 

8 ‘‘(iii) include the use or retrofitting of 

9 existing sawmill facilities located in coun10 ties in which the average annual unemploy11 ment rate exceeded the national average 

12 unemployment rate by greater than 1 per13 cent in the previous calendar year; or 

14 ‘‘(iv) are located in areas in which 

15 markets will aid with forest restoration. 

16 ‘‘(c) FUNDING REQUIREMENTS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) CAP ON CAPITAL COSTS.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

19 subparagraph (B), the total installed capital 

20 cost of an eligible project that receives a grant 

21 under subsection (b)(1) shall not exceed 

22 $1,000,000. 

23 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—The Secretary may 

24 award a grant to an eligible entity for an eligi25 ble project the total installed capital cost of 


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1 which exceeds the cap described in subpara2 graph (A) but does not exceed $1,500,000 if, as 

3 determined by the Secretary, special cir4 cumstances warrant such a grant, such as the 

5 eligible project being carried out at a school or 

6 hospital located in a low-income community. 

7 ‘‘(2) COST-SHARING REQUIREMENTS.— 

8 ‘‘(A) FEDERAL SHARE.— 

9 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro10 vided in clause (ii), the Federal share of 

11 the installed capital cost of an eligible 

12 project carried out by an eligible entity 

13 that receives a grant under subsection 

14 (b)(1) shall be not greater than 35 percent. 

15 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—The Federal share 

16 of the installed capital cost of an eligible 

17 project carried out by an eligible entity 

18 that receives a grant under subsection 

19 (b)(1) may be not greater than 50 percent 

20 if the Secretary determines that special cir21 cumstances warrant such a Federal share, 

22 such as the eligible project being carried 

23 out at a school or hospital located in a low24 income community. 


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1 ‘‘(B) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non2 Federal share of the installed capital cost of an 

3 eligible project carried out by an eligible entity 

4 that receives a grant under subsection (b)(1) 

5 shall be not less than the Federal share pro6 vided under clause (i) or (ii) of subparagraph 

7 (A), as applicable. 

8 ‘‘(d) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than Decem9 ber 31, 2019, and not less frequently than once every 2 

10 years thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the Com11 mittee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate, 

12 the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of 

13 the Senate, the Committee on Natural Resources of the 

14 House of Representatives, and the Committee on Agri15 culture of the House of Representatives a report that— 

16 ‘‘(1) analyzes the impact of the Community 

17 Wood Energy and Wood Innovation Program on 

18 supporting market investments in low-value, low19 quality wood; and 

20 ‘‘(2) identifies specific opportunities and meas21 ures necessary to enhance support for low-value, 

22 low-quality wood. 

23 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

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1 tion $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 

2 through 2023, to remain available until expended. 

3 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—The Secretary may use not 

4 greater than 25 percent of amounts made available 

5 under paragraph (1) to make grants to eligible enti6 ties to build innovative wood product facilities, un7 less the Secretary has received no other appropriate 

8 applications for grants to install community wood 

9 energy systems.’’. 

Æ 


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