A growing number of state and federal laws seek to decrease reliance on fossil fuels while promoting ecological health. One of Cook County’s largest natural resources is its forestland. Both the language of laws already in place and laws that are being proposed are likely to impact how that resource can be tapped.
This summer, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) extended a comment period on its implementation of a revised Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS2) program that will result from the passage of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA). The comment period ends September 27, 2009.
The Energy Independence and Security Act was designed to increase America’s energy efficiency and the availability of renewable energy. The law addresses fuel economy for business travelers, energy efficiency standards for lighting and appliances, repeal of oil and gas tax incentive subsidies, and the amount of renewable fuel that must be mixed with fossil fuels used for transportation.
According to the EPA website September 14, 2009, “The Renewable Fuel Standard program will increase the volume of renewable fuel required to be blended into gasoline from nine billion gallons in 2008 to 36 billion gallons by 2002.”
The increased used of renewable fuels is expected expand the market for agricultural products such as corn and soybeans, according to a May 2009 EPA announcement regarding its proposed regulations. Forest biomass, such as slash generated from logging, fire prevention, or forest health initiatives, could be used for transportation fuel as well. With only 8% of Cook County’s land in private hands, the amount of U.S. Forest Service land is considerable. The Energy Independence and Security Act, however, does not include biomass from federal forests in its definition of renewable biomass except for that which is obtained “from the immediate vicinity of buildings and other areas regularly occupied by people, or of public infrastructure, at risk from wildfire.”
The EISA gives the EPA authority to temporarily waive part of the biofuels mandate “if it were determined that significant renewable feedstock disruption or other market circumstance might occur.” No one depends on trees for food like they depend on corn and soybeans, but the potential impact of not being able to harvest federal biomass for transportation fuel could be significant. While other areas of the country would be building
industries to supply biomass transportation fuels, much of Cook County’s biomass resources would be left out of the picture.
The State of Texas did submit a request to the EPA to waive part of the Renewable Fuels Standard. On August 7, EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson announced that the request was denied. “The agency recognizes that high commodity prices are having economic impacts,” an August 7 EPA new release states, “but EPA’s extensive analysis of Texas’ request found no compelling evidence that the RFS mandate is causing severe economic harm during the time period specified by Texas.”
While implementation of the revised Renewable Fuels Standard is expected to reduce carbon dioxide and other “greenhouse” gases in an amount equivalent to taking about 24 million vehicles off the road, other air pollutants such as hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, acetaldehyde, ethanol, formaldehyde, hydrocarbons, acrolein, and sulfur dioxide are expected to increase, according to the EPA. “We project the proposed program will result in significant increases in ethanol and acetaldehyde emissions,” the May 2009 announcement on the proposed regulations states. It goes on to say, “The atmospheric chemistry related to ambient concentrations of PM2.5, ozone and air toxics is very complex, and making predictions based solely on emissions changes is extremely difficult.”
In the year 2022, 15 billion gallons of petroleum-based gasoline and diesel fuel will be displaced by the new regulations, with 91% of the reductions expected to come from reduced imports of petroleum. “TheRFS2 program is projected to significantly impact the cost of gasoline and diesel,” according to the EPA. “…In our analysis we used both $92 and $53 per barrel of crude oil based on price projections…. We estimated that gasoline costs would increase by about 2.7 and 10.9 cents per gallon, respectively, by 2022. Likewise, diesel fuel costs could experience a small cost reduction of 0.1 cents per gallon, or increase by about 1.2 cent per gallon, respectively.”
The price of food such as corn, soybeans, sugarcane, and beef would be expected to increase as biofuels replace fossil fuels. “We estimate that U.S. food costs would increase by $10 per person per year by 2022 while net U.S. farm income would increase by $7.1 billion dollars (10.6%),” the EPA states. Corn exports would be expected to drop 10%, and soybean exports would be expected to drop by 9.3%.
At its annual conference in July, the National Association of Counties (NACo) resolved to urge Congress to amend the Energy Independence and Security Act (H.R. 6) by revising its definition of renewable biomass to include public lands as a source of renewable fuels.
“Public lands were specifically excluded as a source of ‘renewable biomass’ in the final form of H.R. 6 after having been formerly included in every prior energy bill dating to 2000,” the resolution states. “This resolution promotes the removal of hazardous forest fuels which threaten valuable timber stands, wildlife habitat, and catastrophic CO2 release, while providing a means of limiting dependence on foreign oil by promoting a domestic renewable liquid fuel source.
“Forest county communities would realize increased employment and the reduction of a potentially catastrophic fire threat…. The nation would benefit from reduced greenhouse gas emissions, greater quantities of lower priced domestic motor fuel derived from a renewable source, increased employment, and an increase in the national treasury derived from the sale of material from public lands.”
More articles related to federal forests and biomass will follow in future editions of the Cook County News-Herald.
Information on the proposed rule can be found online at
ÂÂ www.epa.gov/otaq/renewablefuels/index.htm.
Comments can be directed to the EPA by
ÂÂFollowing online instructions at www.regulations.gov; ÂÂemailing a-and-r-docket@epa.gov;
ÂÂMailing the Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center
Environmental Protection Agency Mailcode: 2822T 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20460
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