Last Tuesday, Senators Pete Ricketts (R-NE), Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Katie Britt (R-AL) introduced the Strengthen Wood Products Supply Chain Act—S. 3721. The bill attempts to make the process of importing wood products more streamlined and efficient.
By way of background, wood products were added to the list of commodities covered by the Lacey Act in 2008 as part of the Farm Bill. Lacey bans importation of wood products that are derived from illegally harvested forests. The addition of wood products was supported by the lumber industry at the time as a way of curtailing the flood of foreign-sourced wood into the U.S. market.
Under Lacey, if a shipment is flagged or stopped, importers will typically try to work with federal authorities to determine next steps. Three coordinating federal agencies claim authority, Fish and Wildlife Service, Customs and Border Patrol, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
This has led to unclear procedures, a lack of communication across multiple agencies, and inefficiencies. On numerous occasions, U.S. businesses have waited months or even years trying to discover the nature of the violation and been subjected to fines. Next week, the House Natural Resources Committee’s Water, Wildlife and Fisheries Subcommittee will hold a hearing on a number of bills, including H.R. 7157, the House companion to S. 3721. We expect this bill to advance through the committee, but its future is uncertain.
Particulate Matter Standard
Last Wednesday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan signed a final rule dramatically tightening the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for fine particulate matter (PM NAAQS). In the run up to the signing, ABMA had heard that the standard for fine particulate matter (known as PM 2.5—for 2.5 microns in size) would be lowered from 12.0 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m3) to 9.0 µg/m3, and the effective date would be 60 days after the rule is published in the Federal Register. Unfortunately, what we heard was correct. PM 2.5 is emitted primarily from combustion, ranging from wildfires and wood heaters to industrial operations to cars and trucks on the roads.
The major concern with this action is that it will bring numerous localities around the country into nonattainment for this pollutant as 9.0 µg/m3 is essentially the background level for particulate matter. What this means is that any permit for expansion of a facility, for example, will require an air quality analysis that considers the revised PM2.5 NAAQS.
Wood building products manufacturers were actively opposed to this tightening as it could severely curtail upgrades or expansion at wood building material manufacturing facilities. Industry made the point that this action threatens to stifle the Administration’s signature legislative achievement—the Inflation Reduction Act—as the many industrial projects that are receiving IRA funding may not be able to proceed.
The next steps are unclear. Litigation is being contemplated and a coalition of affected industries is being assembled to forge a strategy. We will remain close to this issue and report on developments.
