By U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud
(D-Maine)
Biomass is a plentiful, renewable fuel that is derived from organic material such as wood waste. It is an important source of clean energy, it helps reduce our reliance on foreign oil, and many Maine businesses, communities, and public facilities have adopted its use. In turn, biomass production and use support many jobs in Maine.
Unfortunately, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations threaten the continued use of biomass boilers. In June 2010, the EPA published new standards for more than 200,000 boilers, process heaters, and incinerators. The one-size-fits-all set of rules apply across the entire United States and affect not only manufacturing, industrial, and commercial facilities, but also hospitals, schools, and apartment buildings. Moreover, by requiring extremely costly controls, these rules make boilers unaffordable for many communities and could put Maine jobs in jeopardy.
By December of last year, EPA had received over 4,800 comments about the new regulations. When the agency asked the federal court for an additional 15 months to rewrite the rules in a way that was fair, their request was denied. EPA estimates that compliance with its boiler and incinerator rules will impose $5.8 billion in upfront capital costs as well as supplemental costs of more than $2.3 billion annually. Even more startling, the Council of Industrial Boiler Owners believes these numbers are underestimated and that capital costs will exceed $14 billion and put 224,000 jobs at risk.
As a leader in the forest products and biomass industries, the state of Maine would be particularly hard hit. Among the list of potentially impacted facilities are Maine’s pulp & paper mills like Verso Paper, Old Town Fuel & Fiber, Lincoln Paper & Tissue, Sappi Fine Paper, and Woodland Pulp as well as Maine biomass power facilities like Boralex, Covanta, and Gallop Power. According to industry sources, the proposed rules would increase capital costs in Maine by over $650 million. These increases could potentially put hundreds of jobs at risk and impact over 60 Maine facilities.
In much of rural America, and especially in Maine, any hope of economic recovery is dependent upon the preservation of the kinds of high-quality jobs that are supported by biomass, such as those in our forest products industry. With U.S. unemployment remaining stubbornly high, we must support regulations that strike a balance between environmental protection and job creation and retention.
That is why I recently cosponsored the EPA Regulatory Relief Act of 2011, which would grant the EPA the time it requested for the development of new more workable rules. The bill would also provide industries, businesses, and facilities adequate time to comply with these regulations.
We need to take responsible actions to protect our environment, but we need to do so in a reasonable way that does not jeopardize our efforts to protect jobs and get the economy back on track. It is my hope that Congress will recognize this need and pass the EPA Regulatory Relief Act to accomplish these goals.
