NAFO News - October 2009

Congress returned to Washington D.C. on September 8 th after a busy August recess where they heard from voters expressing their views regarding health care reform. Health care reform will remain the dominant focus in Congress this fall. The President and Democratic leadership are pushing that agenda.

Senate consideration of non-health care related issues remains very fluid. Majority Leader Reid, D-NV, has indicated that energy and climate change legislation may not be considered by the full Senate until early 2010 - or that the Senate might consider the two issues separately. Chairman Boxer, chair of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW), and Chairman Kerry, chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, released a draft Climate Change bill on Wednesday, September 30, 2009, to be considered by their committees and several others. Boxer said she hopes to complete work in her committee by the end of October.

Climate change legislation will meet a number of challenges. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-MT, has laid the stake for a major role in the development of any climate legislation, yet his committee remains embroiled in developing health care legislation. New Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee Chairman Blanche Lincoln, D-AR, has indicated that her committee will take up the Boxer-Kerry bill sometime this fall, but has not indicated when.

On the environmental front, Lincoln has stated that the EPW approved Clean Water Restoration Act (CWA) provision that expands the definition of the "waters of the United States" beyond "navigable" waters needs to be amended so EPA does not interpret it to cover all waters. Senator Mike Crapo, R-ID, currently has a hold on the CWA measure, effectively preventing floor consideration of the bill.

Policy Update

Renewable Energy and Climate Change - NAFO's Operating Committee met with Members of Congress and staff on September 10th, with a focus on renewable energy and climate change. These meetings laid the foundation for work with key members as the Boxer-Kerry bill is taken up by the committees of jurisdiction. NAFO will continue to focus its attention on the Senate Agriculture Committee and key members of the Environment and Public Works Committee to improve the offsets and biomass definition provisions in the Boxer-Kerry bill. NAFO's public statement on the Boxer-Kerry bill, pointing out the opportunities missed in the legislation, is available here.

Renewable Fuel Standard - NAFO submitted its official comments to the EPA on the Renewable Fuel Standard - they are available on NAFO's website and can be viewed here (PDF). NAFO is also leading a stakeholder group that will provide input to EPA on how to fashion a flexible and efficient verification process under the standard to minimize burdensome requirements for facilities and landowners.

Waters of the United States - NAFO remains engaged on legislation seeking to redefine "waters of the U.S.," which fall under the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act (CWA). NAFO staff and Operating Committee members have met with key Members and staff serving on the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee, which has jurisdiction over this issue. T&I Committee Chairman Oberstar, D-MN-08, is expected to release his version of the legislation soon. However, consideration this fall seems unlikely because of the Committee's focus on reauthorization of the transportation bill.

On the regulatory front, NAFO and Operating Committee members met with EPA Office of Water and Office of Pesticide staff to discuss two issues: 1) the Agency's response to a Ninth Circuit order to consider whether storm water from forest roads should be subject to pollution discharge permits; and 2) how the Agency intends to craft pollution discharge permitting requirements for pesticide use in response to a recent ruling by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that aerial spraying of such pesticides over and near water bodies is a pollution discharge. The meeting was a successful first step to educate EPA on pesticide use on private forest lands as they begin to develop permit requirements.

Section 45 Production Tax Credit Parity - NAFO is leading a broad coalition of stakeholders to lay the foundation for possible consideration in tax legislation later this year. NAFO has been actively working on obtaining co-sponsors for House and Senate legislation (S. 1090 and H.R. 2626) that Senator Wyden, D-OR, and Rep. Kendrick Meek, D-FL-17, have introduced in their respective chambers. Both would establish rate parity for forest biomass with other renewable energy sources, like wind and geothermal, under the Section 45 Production Tax Credit.

Biomass Crop Assistance Program - NAFO met with USDA officials from the Farm Service Agency (FSA) and the Office of Natural Resources and Environment (NRE) to discuss implementation of the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) established in the 2008 Farm Bill. BCAP was established to provide assistance to biomass producers to grow, transport and store biomass for use in the production of renewable energy used by facilities meeting certain eligibility requirements. Funded out of the Commodity Credit Corporation, BCAP has the potential to provide valuable federal assistance to NAFO members providing renewable energy feed stock.

FSA expressed a strong desire to work with NAFO to ensure full participation of forest owners in the BCAP program. Funds for the transportation and storage of biomass under the BCAP program are available now, and information on how to participate in BCAP is available here.

NAFO will continue to work with FSA as the agency prepares for formal rulemaking for implementation of the BCAP program later this fall.

Obama Administration

USDA Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment - The Administration has nominated Harris Sherman to serve as Under Secretary of Natural Resources and Environment at USDA. Sherman currently serves as the Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources. His confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry was held on September 30th. NAFO continues to follow this nomination closely, and is helping Agriculture Committee Senators engage Mr. Sherman during his confirmation process on climate change, energy, water and working forests issues.

Data Available on Economic Impact of NAFO Members

NAFO commissioned a study with Forest2Market to quantify the economic impact of NAFO members. The information will be used in our advocacy work - demonstrating to Members of Congress and other decision makers how NAFO lands translate to jobs, economic activity, and the tax rolls. The study provides a contribution per acre, customized by State and region, for jobs and payroll (direct, indirect, and induced), contribution to GDP, state income and severance taxes, and sales. NAFO and its members can then use the numbers combined with individual acreage by Congressional district or state to demonstrate their local impact. These are important metrics for advocacy and will help NAFO advance our agenda.

The study (PDF) and a one pager summarizing NAFO's impact by state are available. NAFO plans a larger roll-out in October to coincide with a redesigned website, which will include a search tool to identify NAFO's economic impact by Congressional district.

Membership

NAFO welcomes two new members to the organization:

The Arkansas Forestry Association is an important constituent of some of NAFO's strongest supporters in Congress, including Rep. Mike Ross and the new chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, Senator Blanche Lincoln. Max Braswell is the executive vice president.

J.D. Irving, headquartered in Saint John, New Brunswick, owns and manages more than 1.2 million acres in Maine, and is a positive and valuable addition to NAFO. Jim Irving is the President and CEO and will serve on NAFO's Board. Anthony Hourihan has joined the NAFO Operating Committee.

NAFO Annual Meeting

From Policy to Markets : How have renewable energy and carbon policies influenced market opportunities for private forests in the past? How will pending policy options in Congress influence these markets now and in the future?

Join your colleagues on November 19 th and 20 th at NAFO's 2009 Annual Meeting in Seattle as we seek to answer these questions and frame our understanding of next year's opportunities and challenges. The program offered at the Annual Meeting will enrich NAFO's strategic planning for 2010 and beyond.

Make your plans to come to the NAFO Annual Meeting today! All program information, including hotel information, can be found here (PDF).

Please let NAFO know if you intend to participate in the 2009 Annual Meeting. There is no registration fee associated with this event. Please complete and mail, email, or fax this registration form (PDF) to NAFO by October 30, 2009.