Washington (Platts)--12Jan2011/302 pm EST/2002 GMT
The US Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday it plans to delay by three years regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from facilities that use biomass to produce energy. The biomass industry -- which provides wood and plant scraps, along with garbage in some cases, to create ethanol and fire power plants -- has long sought an exemption from EPA's GHG regulations, arguing that biomass is significantly cleaner than fossil fuels like coal. EPA plans to study the effects of burning biomass over the coming years as it seeks to determine whether biomass-fired facilities should be required to account for their GHG emissions. The agency plans to complete its rulemaking, and start the three-year delay, in July. "We are working to find a way forward that is scientifically sound and manageable for both producers and consumers of biomass energy. In the coming years we will develop a common sense approach that protects our environment and encourages the use of clean energy," US EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said. The National Alliance of Forest Owners, which represents companies which provide biomass feedstock, originally asked the EPA to reconsider the inclusion of biomass sources in the GHG rule. A NAFO spokesman did not immediately return a request for comment. Environmental advocates, though, said the move is further capitulation from EPA in the face of political pressure. "This is another concession by EPA to its critics both in industry and Congress. EPA has been under heavy political pressure even by some of its nominal friends in Congress to push back these requirements," Frank O'Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch, a Washington-based environmental group, said Wednesday. "It should remove some of the congressional heat," O'Donnell said, referencing pressure from Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat-Oregon, to exempt biomass sources. --Tom LoBianco, tom_lobianco@platts.comSimilar stories appear in Electric Power Daily. See more information at http://bit.ly/ElectricPowerDaily