Good News from the EPA

The biomass industry got a little good news on Wednesday on the regulatory front. In its guidance and tools for Clean Air Act permitting for greenhouse gases (GHGs), the U.S. EPA has said that states can consider the use of biomass energy as a best available control technology (BACT) to reduce GHGs.

Specifically, the guidance says that “biomass could be considered BACT after taking into account environmental, energy and economic considerations and state and federal policies that promote biomass for energy-independence and environmental reasons.”

Although the EPA stressed that this is just guidance and not a rule, it may be a good sign that the agency is rethinking its decision to include biogenic emissions when determining a facility’s GHG levels.

See the “EPA’s BACT guidance confirms biomass climate change rule” story in this week’s newsletter for more information.