§15855 — Title 42 The Public Health and Welfare | U.S. Code

Summary

The Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior can give grants to people in “preferred communities” to help pay for buying forest biomass used to make electricity, useful heat, or transportation fuels. Grants for buying biomass cannot be more than $20 per green ton delivered. Grant recipients must keep records the Secretary requires and let government representatives inspect the facility and records after notice. The Secretaries can also give grants up to $500,000 for projects that improve how biomass is used or add its value. People in preferred communities get priority. When choosing projects, the Secretaries will look at public benefits (like energy or affordable energy), chances to start or grow small businesses, job creation, cleaner or more efficient biomass technology, and removing hazardous fuels. Definitions (one line each): Biomass = nonmerchantable material or precommercial thinnings taken to reduce hazardous fuels, fight disease or insects, or restore forest health (trees, brush, chips, slash). Indian tribe = as defined in 25 U.S.C. 5304(e). Nonmerchantable = the part not suitable for higher-value products. Person = an individual, a community (as the Secretary decides), an Indian tribe, a U.S. small business or corporation, or a nonprofit. Preferred community = an Indian tribe; or a town (pop. ≤50,000) or a county not in a metro area that the Secretary finds is near federal or Indian land at high risk or already affected by wildfire, disease, or insects. Secretary concerned = Secretary of Agriculture or Secretary of the Interior. The law authorizes $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2006 and $35,000,000 for each fiscal year 2007 through 2016. By October 1, 2010, the Secretary of Agriculture, with the Secretary of the Interior, must report to the listed Senate and House committees about grant results, including the amount and type of biomass used, the distance from where it was cut to the facility, and economic effects, especially new jobs.

Title 42, §15855

The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)In this section:

(1)The term “biomass” means nonmerchantable materials or precommercial thinnings that are byproducts of preventive treatments, such as trees, wood, brush, thinnings, chips, and slash, that are removed—

(A)to reduce hazardous fuels;

(B)to reduce or contain disease or insect infestation; or

(C)to restore forest health.

(2)The term “Indian tribe” has the meaning given the term in section 5304(e) of title 25.

(3)For purposes of subsection (b), the term “nonmerchantable” means that portion of the byproducts of preventive treatments that would not otherwise be used for higher value products.

(4)The term “person” includes—

(A)an individual;

(B)a community (as determined by the Secretary concerned);

(C)an Indian tribe;

(D)a small business or a corporation that is incorporated in the United States; and

(E)a nonprofit organization.

(5)The term “preferred community” means—

(A)any Indian tribe;

(B)any town, township, municipality, or other similar unit of local government (as determined by the Secretary concerned) that—

(i)has a population of not more than 50,000 individuals; and

(ii)the Secretary concerned, in the sole discretion of the Secretary concerned, determines contains or is located near Federal or Indian land, the condition of which is at significant risk of catastrophic wildfire, disease, or insect infestation or which suffers from disease or insect infestation; or

(C)any county that—

(i)is not contained within a metropolitan statistical area; and

(6)The term “Secretary concerned” means the Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior.

(b)(1)The Secretary concerned may make grants to any person in a preferred community that owns or operates a facility that uses biomass as a raw material to produce electric energy, sensible heat, or transportation fuels to offset the costs incurred to purchase biomass for use by such facility.

(2)A grant under this subsection may not exceed $20 per green ton of biomass delivered.

(3)As a condition of a grant under this subsection, the grant recipient shall keep such records as the Secretary concerned may require to fully and correctly disclose the use of the grant funds and all transactions involved in the purchase of biomass. Upon notice by a representative of the Secretary concerned, the grant recipient shall afford the representative reasonable access to the facility that purchases or uses biomass and an opportunity to examine the inventory and records of the facility.

(c)(1)The Secretary concerned may make grants to persons to offset the cost of projects to develop or research opportunities to improve the use of, or add value to, biomass. In making such grants, the Secretary concerned shall give preference to persons in preferred communities.

(2)The Secretary concerned shall select a grant recipient under paragraph (1) after giving consideration to—

(A)the anticipated public benefits of the project, including the potential to develop thermal or electric energy resources or affordable energy;

(B)opportunities for the creation or expansion of small businesses and micro-businesses;

(C)the potential for new job creation;

(D)the potential for the project to improve efficiency or develop cleaner technologies for biomass utilization; and

(E)the potential for the project to reduce the hazardous fuels from the areas in greatest need of treatment.

(3)A grant under this subsection may not exceed $500,000.

(d)There are authorized to be appropriated $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2006 and $35,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2007 through 2016 to carry out this section.

(e)Not later than October 1, 2010, the Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate, and the Committee on Resources, the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives, a report describing the results of the grant programs authorized by this section. The report shall include the following:

(1)An identification of the size, type, and use of biomass by persons that receive grants under this section.

(2)The distance between the land from which the biomass was removed and the facility that used the biomass.

(3)The economic impacts, particularly new job creation, resulting from the grants to and operation of the eligible operations.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2006—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 109–375 substituted “$50,000,000 for fiscal year 2006 and $35,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2007 through 2016” for “$50,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2006 through 2016”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name

Committee on Resources of House of Representatives changed to Committee on Natural Resources of House of Representatives by House Resolution No. 6, One Hundred Tenth Congress, Jan. 5, 2007.

§15855 Grants to improve the commercial value of forest biomass for electric energy, useful heat, transportation fuels, and other commercial purposes