Title: Community Wood Energy Innovation Act of 2018
Policy area: Agriculture and Food

Summary:
Community Wood Energy Innovation Act of 2018
This bill amends the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to reauthorize and modify the Forest Service Community Wood Energy Program. Under current law, the program provides grants for: (1) state and local governments to develop community wood energy plans or acquire or upgrade community wood energy systems, and (2) for biomass consumer cooperatives.
The bill makes private entities eligible for grants and modifies the purposes for which the grants may be used. The grants may be used 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.

[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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