Senator Collins’ Biomass Provision Adopted In Senate Appropriations Bill

     WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Susan Collins announced that the Senate Appropriations Committee, on which she serves, has adopted a provision she offered to ensure that biomass is treated as carbon neutral by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The provision was adopted within the Fiscal Year 2016 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill and must now be considered by the full Senate.

     “Many states, including Maine, are relying on renewable biomass to meet renewable energy goals. For this reason, I’m glad the bill includes my provision to ensure that biomass is treated as carbon neutral by the EPA. Despite carbon benefits of forest biomass being clearly established, the EPA has created current policy uncertainty that is jeopardizing rather than encouraging investment in working forests, bioenergy, wood products, and paper manufacturing. Biomass energy is a sustainable, responsible, renewable, and economically significant energy source.”