816
(ii) the Secretary concerned, in the
sole discretion of the Secretary concerned,
determines contains or is located near
land, the condition of which is at signifi-
cant risk of catastrophic wildfire, disease,
or insect infestation or which suffers from
disease or insect infestation.
(5) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec-
retary concerned’’ means the Secretary of Agri-
culture or the Secretary of the Interior.
(c) BIOMASS COMMERCIAL USE GRANT PROGRAM.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary concerned
may make grants to any person that owns or oper-
ates a facility that uses biomass as a raw material
to produce electric energy, sensible heat, transpor-
tation fuels, or substitutes for petroleum-based prod-
ucts to offset the costs incurred to purchase biomass
for use by such facility.
(2) GRANT AMOUNTS.—A grant under this sub-
section may not exceed $20 per green ton of biomass
delivered.
(3) MONITORING OF GRANT RECIPIENT ACTIVI-
TIES.—As a condition of a grant under this sub-
section, the grant recipient shall keep such records
as the Secretary concerned may require to fully and
817
correctly disclose the use of the grant funds and all
transactions involved in the purchase of biomass.
Upon notice by a representative of the Secretary
concerned, the grant recipient shall afford the rep-
resentative reasonable access to the facility that pur-
chases or uses biomass and an opportunity to exam-
ine the inventory and records of the facility.
(d) IMPROVED BIOMASS USE GRANT PROGRAM.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary concerned
may make grants to persons to offset the cost of
projects to develop or research opportunities to im-
prove the use of, or add value to, biomass. In mak-
ing such grants, the Secretary concerned shall give
preference to persons in preferred communities.
(2) SELECTION.—The Secretary concerned shall
select a grant recipient under paragraph (1) after
giving consideration to the anticipated public bene-
fits of the project, including the potential to develop
thermal or electric energy resources or affordable en-
ergy, opportunities for the creation or expansion of
small businesses and micro-businesses, and the po-
tential for new job creation.
(3) GRANT AMOUNT.—A grant under this sub-
section may not exceed $500,000.
818
(e) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There
are authorized to be appropriated $50,000,000 for each
of the fiscal years 2006 through 2016 to carry out this
section.
(f) REPORT.—Not later than October 1, 2010, the
Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation with the Sec-
retary of the Interior, shall submit to the Committee on
Energy and Natural Resources and the Committee on Ag-
riculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate and the
Committee on Resources, the Committee on Energy and
Commerce, and the Committee on Agriculture of the
House of Representatives a report describing the results
of the grant programs authorized by this section. The re-
port shall include the following:
(1) An identification of the size, type, and the
use of biomass by persons that receive grants under
this section.
(2) The distance between the land from which
the biomass was removed and the facility that used
the biomass.
(3) The economic impacts, particularly new job
creation, resulting from the grants to and operation
of the eligible operations.
819
SEC. 1702. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW FOR RENEWABLE EN-
ERGY PROJECTS.
(a) COMPLIANCE WITH NEPA FOR RENEWABLE EN-
ERGY PROJECTS.—Notwithstanding any other law, in pre-
paring an environmental assessment or environmental im-
pact statement required under section 102 of the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332) with
respect to any action authorizing a renewable energy
project under the jurisdiction of a Federal agency—
(1) no Federal agency is required to identify al-
ternative project locations or actions other than the
proposed action and the no action alternative; and
(2) no Federal agency is required to analyze the
environmental effects of alternative locations or ac-
tions other than those submitted by the project pro-
ponent.
(b) CONSIDERATION OF ALTERNATIVES.—In any en-
vironmental assessment or environmental impact state-
ment referred to in subsection (a), the Federal agency
shall only identify and analyze the environmental effects
and potential mitigation measures of—
(1) the proposed action; and
(2) the no action alternative.
(c) PUBLIC COMMENT.—In preparing an environ-
mental assessment or environmental impact statement re-
ferred to in subsection (a), the Federal agency shall only