Pruitt Moves To Find Biomass Carbon Neutral, Despite Ongoing SAB Work

摘要

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is moving to declare certain types of biomass a carbon-neutral fuel source, potentially bypassing long-running work by the agency's Science Advisory Board (SAB) that has struggled to find consensus on how to account for forest regrowth when measuring greenhouse gas emissions in permits and other policies.Pruitt lays out his position in a Feb. 13 letter to New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R), following a meeting the two had in the state. He also notes that EPA is working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Energy (DOE) on a unified biomass strategy, in response to a provision in the fiscal year 2017 appropriations law, and he says EPA is crafting options for how to address biomass in permits as well as reviewing its own procurement policies for forest products.