Sec. 6. Assessment of Federal land for wood biomass energy potential
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Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Energy (referred to in this section as the Secretary ), in coordination with the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture, shall produce a comprehensive assessment (referred to in this section as the assessment ) of the potential to produce biomass energy from land under the administrative jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture, subject to paragraph (2).
The assessment shall not apply to land— that is a component of the National Wilderness Preservation System; on which the removal of vegetation is prohibited or restricted by an Act of Congress or a Presidential proclamation; or that is a wilderness study area. The assessment shall include an inventory of forest biomass supplies located on Federal land that are suitable for energy use. The supply inventory described in paragraph
(1)shall distinguish between forest biomass supplies that— are live trees; are dead or salvage trees; are prone to drought, insect outbreak, or disease; are mill residue; and may potentially be harvested. The assessment shall evaluate whether the forest biomass supplies listed in the supply inventory described in subsection
(b)are potential wood biomass sources, such as— logging waste, such as tops of trees that otherwise produce commercial sawlogs; trees that are too small to meet saw timber merchantability specifications; trees and ladder fuels that are likely to be removed as part of forest management prescriptions to restore forest health and resiliency; dead trees that are unsuitable for manufacture of sawlogs due to decay, staining, or insect damage; portions of harvested trees that cannot be made into solid wood products; unutilized slash; mill residues; and other wood products suitable for energy use. The assessment shall take into consideration— the availability, potential, and distribution of the forest biomass supplies listed in the supply inventory described in subsection (b); the infrastructure that supports existing wood products and biomass energy production on the land covered by the assessment; and existing and projected forest biomass energy consumption in the United States. Based on the supply inventory described in subsection (b), the Secretary shall develop— a 5- and 10-year estimate of biomass energy that may be produced from supplies listed in the inventory; and estimates for the associated costs of transporting and processing those supplies for use as energy. Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives a report describing— the assessment; and the estimates developed under subsection (e).