2009-2010 Bill 677: Forest Biomass - South Carolina Legislature Online

1 South Carolina General Assembly 2 118th Session, 2009-2010 3 4 S. 677 5 6 STATUS INFORMATION 7 8 Senate Resolution 9 Sponsors: Senator Cromer 10 Document Path: l:\s-res\rwc\008fore.mrh.rwc.docx 11 Companion/Similar bill(s): 3899 12 13 Introduced in the Senate on April 2, 2009 14 Adopted by the Senate on April 2, 2009 15 16 Summary: Forest biomass 17 18 19 HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 20 21 Date Body Action Description with journal page number 22 4/2/2009 Senate Introduced and adopted SJ4 23 24 25 VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 26 27 4/2/2009 28 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A SENATE RESOLUTION 10 11 TO RECOGNIZE AND ENCOURAGE THE USE OF FOREST 12 BIOMASS FOR ENERGY PRODUCTS AS SOUTH 13 CAROLINA’S MOST ABUNDANT SOURCE OF 14 RENEWABLE ENERGY, AND TO URGE THE UNITED 15 STATES CONGRESS TO TAKE ACTION TO CORRECT THE 16 RESTRICTIVE AND INTRUSIVE DEFINITION OF 17 RENEWABLE BIOMASS IN THE ENERGY INDEPENDENCE 18 AND SECURITY ACT OF 2007 AND TO PREVENT 19 ADDITIONAL FEDERAL ACTIONS THAT WOULD 20 ELIMINATE FOREST PRODUCT MARKETS FOR FOREST 21 LANDOWNERS BY DEFINING “RENEWABLE BIOMASS” IN 22 A RESTRICTIVE MANNER. 23 24 Whereas, South Carolina’s 12.9 million acres of forests represent 25 the major land use in the State, covering 67% of South Carolina’s 26 total land area; and 27 28 Whereas, the total economic impact of forestry in South Carolina 29 is $17.45 billion annually; and 30 31 Whereas, forestry is the leading manufacturing industry in South 32 Carolina in terms of employment and labor income; and 33 34 Whereas, 44,708 South Carolina citizens, earning $2.4 billion in 35 income, are employed in forestry; and 36 37 Whereas, 11.325 million acres, 88% of South Carolina’s 38 forestlands, are privately owned; and 39 40 Whereas, supporting emerging markets for forest products is 41 essential to keeping South Carolina’s forestland in forests; and 42

[677] 2 1 Whereas, the members of the South Carolina Senate support the 2 protection of the rights of private property owners; and 3 4 Whereas, South Carolina’s forests have the potential to sustainably 5 supply 16 million tons per year of woody biomass to an emerging 6 bioenergy industry; and 7 8 Whereas, South Carolina sustainably produces enough woody 9 biomass fuel to produce over 1,300 MW’s of power annually, 10 which is enough to supply onethird of the annual power 11 requirements of all South Carolina homes, and 12 13 Whereas, woody biomass is South Carolina’s primary potential 14 source of renewable energy; and 15 16 Whereas, using forest biomass to produce energy products offsets 17 fossil fuel use and significantly reduces net carbon emissions and 18 other pollutants; and 19 20 Whereas, the use of locallygrown biomass for energy can replace 21 imported fossil fuels and keep South Carolina energy dollars in 22 South Carolina; and 23 24 Whereas, the development of a forest bioenergy industry will 25 provide additional jobs and retain jobs in South Carolina’s rural 26 communities; and 27 28 Whereas, forest biomass harvests are a costeffective method to 29 improve wildlife habitat, reduce wildfire hazard, improve tree 30 growth, and remove diseased and infested trees; and 31 32 Whereas, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 33 placed restrictions unsupported by science on the source of 34 biomass from privatelyowned forests that have been previously 35 regenerated naturally, on forests that may be planted to trees in the 36 future, and on “late successional” forests and other areas, resulting 37 in the restriction of approximately 8.27 million acres of private 38 forests in South Carolina from being utilized for biomass energy 39 production toward the satisfaction of any federal renewable 40 portfolio targets for renewable energy; and 41 42 Whereas, the restrictions placed by the Energy Independence and 43 Security Act of 2007 unduly restrict the ability of the forester or

[677] 3 1 professional natural resource manager to apply science, sitespecific 2 forest information and landowner objectives to his decisions about 3 management for each forest area, thereby discouraging good 4 conservation; and 5 6 Whereas, qualifying the source of biomass being harvested, 7 processed, and delivered to bioenergy facilities will be difficult 8 and add undue costs; and 9 10 Whereas, the restrictions placed on conservation practices for the 11 production of biomass from forests could set a precedent for 12 federal control of specific conservation practices and forest 13 products on privatelyowned property; and 14 15 Whereas, the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (Farm 16 Bill) does not restrict the ability of local resource managers to 17 properly manage forests and it provides a definition of “renewable 18 biomass” and additional guidance that includes the use of “any 19 organic matter available on a renewable or recurring basis”; and 20 21 Whereas, the State of South Carolina, through the South Carolina 22 Forestry Commission and its allied agencies and nongovernmental 23 organizations, provides best management practice guidelines, 24 sustainability assessments, and other services and monitoring of 25 the forest resources to ensure sustainability and good conservation. 26 Now, therefore, 27 28 Be it resolved by the Senate: 29 30 That the members of the South Carolina Senate recognize and 31 encourage the use of forest biomass for energy products as South 32 Carolina’s most abundant source of renewable energy, and urge 33 the United States Congress to take action to correct the restrictive 34 and intrusive definition of renewable biomass in the Energy 35 Independence and Security Act of 2007 and to prevent additional 36 federal actions that would eliminate forest product markets for 37 forest landowners by defining “renewable biomass” in a restrictive 38 manner. 39 40 Be it further resolved that all federal legislation related to biomass, 41 including the currently proposed Renewable Electricity Standards, 42 follow a uniform definition of renewable biomass as contained in

[677] 4 1 the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, commonly 2 referred to as the “Farm Bill.” 3 XX 4

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