Code of Vermont Rules › Agency 12 - AGENCY OF NATURAL RESOURCES › Sub-Agency 020 - DEPARTMENT OF FORESTS, PARKS AND RECREATION › Chapter 015 - BIOMASS RENEWABLE ENERGY STANDARD › Section 12 020 015 - BIOMASS RENEWABLE ENERGY STANDARD

Current through June,
				2024
Section 1.
				Introduction.
Act No. 56 of the Acts of 2015 established a Renewable Energy
				  Standard and Energy Transformation Program for electric utilities in the State
				  of Vermont which specifically includes biomass to produce electricity. Act 56
				  amended Chapter 87 of Title 10 of the Vermont Statutes Annotated to add a new
				  section 2751, which requires the Commissioner of the Department of Forests,
				  Parks and Recreation to adopt rules that establish renewability standards for
				  forest products used to generate energy by distributed renewable generation and
				  energy transformation projects within the Renewable Energy Standard. 10 V.S.A.
				  § 2751. These standards may include minimum efficiency requirements for
				  wood boilers and requirements for harvesting and procurement. In developing
				  these rules, the Commissioner shall consider differentiating the standards by
				  type of forest product and scale of forest product.
Section 2. Policy and Purpose.
The policy and purpose of the Biomass Renewable Energy
				  Standard is to promote the sustainable use of forest resources and to ensure
				  long-term forest health and sustainability through harvesting and procurement
				  of biomass.
Section 3.
				Authority.
This rule is adopted pursuant to 10 V.S.A. § 2751, 3
				  V.S.A. § 801(11) and 3 V.S.A. § 2853(5).
Section 4. Applicability.
The Biomass Renewability Energy Standard applies to all
				  utilities that: offer incentives on wood-fired appliances as part of their Tier
				  III programming; or all generation from biomass electric generation facilities;
				  or combined heat and power (CHP) facilities that utilities claim towards their
				  Tier II requirements.
Section
				5. Definitions.
5.1 " AMPs "
				shall mean the rule entitled "Acceptable Management Practices for Logging Jobs
				in Vermont" adopted by the Department of Forests, Parks and
				Recreation.
5.1 " Combined heat and
				power (CHP) facility " shall have the same meaning as in 30 V.S.A. §
				8015(b)(2).
5.2 " Distributed
				renewable generation " shall have the same meaning as in 30 V.S.A. §
				8005(a)(2).
5.3 " Distribution
				Utilities or DUs " refers to the 17 electric distribution utilities in Vermont,
				as authorized by the Public Utility Commission.
5.4 " Energy transformation project " shall
				have the same meaning as in 30 V.S.A. § 8002.
5.5 " Micro CHP Facility " means a system
				with 5kw or less of electric generating capacity.
5.5 " Renewability " means capable of being
				replaced by natural ecological processes or sound management
				practices.
5.6 " RES " means the
				Renewable Energy Standard established in 30 V.S.A. § 8004 and §
				8005.
5.7 " Tier II " means the
				distributed renewable generation RES category as defined in 30 V.S.A. §
				8005.
5.8 " Tier III " means the
				energy transformation RES category as defined in 30 V.S.A. §
				8005.
5.10 "UVA" shall mean the Use
				Value Appraisal Program established by 32 V.S.A. §§ 375 -
				3777.