Owens pushing for biomass aid

Owens pushing for biomass aid

Jun 10 - Watertown Daily Times

The federal government is moving too slowly to implement biomass energy programs created in the 2008 farm bill, some lawmakers say.

But the delay is giving Rep. William L. Owens, D-Plattsburgh, more time to plead the case of companies that could turn Northern New York wood into fuel -- but have been shut out of the program so far.

At issue are a few programs Congress created in the farm bill, for which the U.S. Department of Agriculture has yet to issue final regulations, a key step to putting the programs fully in place. Some of the proposed regulations are still in public comment periods and the Obama administration is still reviewing comments.

The idea behind the programs was to draw more energy from products created in rural areas, particularly on farms and in forests. Lawmakers also crafted the programs to expand bioenergy beyond the traditional ethanol, made from corn.

Mr. Owens is focusing on the Biomass Crop Assistance Program, which encourages the collection, harvest, storage and transportation of biomass material to plants that convert it to fuel. The U.S. Farm Service Agency expects to publish final rules for the program this fall, officials told the House Agriculture Committee, after sifting through more than 24,000 comments submitted during a public comment period that ended in April.

The program has spent $233 million on 4,551 contracts in 31 states, the USDA reported. But the department suspended payments in February until the publication of final regulations.

Mr. Owens said Wednesday that the program as envisioned at the USDA is not available to companies that are vertically integrated, or control several points in the supply chain. As a result, he said, logging companies in the Adirondacks may have a hard time participating.

The congressman, who attended an agriculture subcommittee hearing on biomass programs Wednesday, said his office will write to the Farm Service Agency, asking officials to be less restrictive in deciding what companies are eligible.

In doing so, Mr. Owens is seizing on the USDA's slow progress in implementing the programs. Lawmakers on the Agriculture Committee grilled the department's top official on rural development at Wednesday's hearing, asking why the administration took until this spring to move on the regulations.

"Something had to go in order. Something had to go first, and something had to go last," said Cheryl Cook, deputy undersecretary for rural development, who added that the department has limited staff.

"You can't multitask?" asked the subcommittee's ranking Republican, Rep. Robert W. Goodlatte, R-Va.

Ms. Cook disagreed that the rules for the programs have been held up, something suggested by the panel's chairman, Rep. Tim Holden, D-Pa. Mr. Holden blamed the White House Office of Management and Budget, which he said delayed several regulations for a month.

Mr. Goodlatte noted in a prepared statement that President Obama in May 2009 pushed for the release of farm bill energy money within 30 days.

"It is unfortunate that two years after the adoption of the farm bill and one year after the president's directive, none of the major provisions in the title are operating under their final rules," Mr. Goodlatte said.

Mr. Goodlatte singled out the Biomass Crop Assistance Program for criticism, saying the USDA has spent hundreds of millions of dollars already, yet no new biomass is being grown.

"This is not the best use of our taxpayers' dollars and this is not the proper way to invest in our farmers and ranchers who provide the renewable feedstocks needed for our nation's energy diversity," Mr. Goodlatte said.

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