On December 15, the United States Department of Agriculture released all the documents necessary to kickoff the implementation of the final Biomass Crop Assistance Program Rule. The documents, which can now be found on the BCAP website , include :
1) Forms and instructions for applying to become a qualified biomass conversion facility
2) An eligible materials list
3) The forms and instructions for setting up a project areas
One day after the forms were made available, however, the Omnibus Spending Bill that Congress is considering was reported to contain a provision that would cut funding for the program.
According to an article by Anna Austin in Biomass Power and Thermal :
Section 749 of the omnibus states, "none of the funds appropriated or made available by this or any other act shall be used to pay salaries or expenses of personnel to administer the Biomass Crop Assistance Program as authorized by 9011 of Public Law 107.171 in fiscal year 2011.”
While the provision does not specifically remove money for funding the program, it does do so for administrative expenses, which would effectively kill the program since USDA is not allowed to administer a program without a budget, according to Tom Kimmerer, senior scientist at Moore Ventures LLC. “The Omnibus does reduce direct BCAP spending by $134 million, or about half. It also rescinds unobligated funding balances for the Biorefinery Assistance program and Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels [about $84 million]—all of which are USDA programs,” he said.
Cuts to other farm bill programs are minimal, Kimmerer pointed out. “So somebody was targeting the biomass industry,” he said. “Though the omnibus is not in final form, people concerned about BCAP need to contact their legislators.”
Fortunately, House Majority Leader Harry Reid announced late last week that the Senate would not vote on the bill, as the votes were just not there. Because the Omnibus Spending Bill is essential for keeping the government running, however, we can expect the 112th Congress to take up a different version of the bill after the holiday recess. Whether BCAP will fare any better in that version of the bill is anyone's guess. Many in the freshman class of Congress were elected to deal with budget issues, however, so the environment for spending cuts is likely to get worse. While legislators are back in their home districts over the holidays, it will be a good time to let your opinion about BCAP be known.
Find and contact your legislators by using the "Find your Lawmakers" function in the upper right hand corner at www.congress.org.
Suz-Anne Kinney
Forest2Market: July 14, 2023
