EPA Issues Carbon-Neutral Biomass Policy, Spurning SAB Review Efforts

摘要

EPA in a new guidance document says it will treat carbon dioxide emissions "resulting from the combustion of biomass from managed forests at stationary sources for energy production as carbon neutral," largely spurning a Science Advisory Board (SAB) review of the issue because the agency believes it has taken too long.The guidance could be applied in a host of regulatory contexts, but under the Trump administration it might be most applicable to any Clean Air Act permits that biomass power plants must obtain, given court rulings that "major" sources of emissions must conduct a technology review to limit their greenhouse gases.EPA's April 23 policy statement says it will take a carbon-neutral approach to biomass from "managed" forests because the forest sector in 2015 offset roughly 11.2 percent of gross domestic GHG emissions. The statement is available on InsideEPA.com.