EPA gives biomass a 3-year reprieve from GHG permits

By Gabriel Nelson, E&E reporter

GreenWire

Jan. 12, 2011

The use of biomass will be exempt from the Obama administration's new greenhouse gas regulations for three years, U.S. EPA announced today, giving the agency more time to address concerns that permitting requirements could chill investment in an emerging form of renewable energy.

The decision responds to criticism from the biomass industry, which has claimed that the energy source is not contributing to climate change because it is part of a natural, carbon-neutral cycle. When new plants are grown, the argument goes, they absorb the same amount of carbon dioxide that the other plants had released when they were burned.

In a statement today, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson gave a nod to biomass as a form of "clean energy." The sentiment was echoed by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who said the decision would create jobs and promote energy independence.

"We are working to find a way forward that is scientifically sound and manageable for both producers and consumers of biomass energy," Jackson said. "In the coming years we will develop a common-sense approach that protects our environment and encourages the use of clean energy. Renewable, homegrown power sources are essential to our energy future, and an important step to cutting the pollution responsible for climate change."

Today's decision will require changes to EPA's "tailoring" rule, which lays out which types of new facilities will need to get greenhouse gas permits under the Clean Air Act.

The first phase of greenhouse gas rules, which took effect Jan. 2, applies only to sources that needed permits anyway.

By July, when the second round of requirements kick in, EPA intends to finish a rulemaking that will prevent biomass facilities from triggering the permitting requirements because of their greenhouse gas emissions alone.

For facilities that use biomass, permitting requirements can still be triggered by other types of pollution, but removing biomass emissions from the mix could allow some facilities to avoid the permitting process.

Dave Tenny, president of the National Association of Forest Owners, said the decision will lift some of the uncertainty that had been surrounding the use of biomass.

"We think this is a very positive step in the right direction," Tenny said. "The signal they're sending is positive for biomass, and it's our expectation that the effort going forward will produce a policy that favors biomass and fully recognizes the carbon benefits."