S 5087

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IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

July 22, 2026

Mr. Merkley (for himself, Mrs. Hyde-Smith, Mr. Padilla, Mr. Kennedy, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. King, and Ms. Collins) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

A BILL

To amend the Clean Air Act to modify the definition of renewable biomass for purposes of the renewable fuel standard, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the “Wildfire Reduction Market Expansion Act of 2026”.

SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF RENEWABLE BIOMASS.

Section 211(o)(1)(I) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7545(o)(1)(I)) is amended—

(1) by redesignating each of clauses (i) through (vii) as subclauses (I) through (VII), respectively, and indenting appropriately;

(2) in the matter preceding subclause (I) (as so redesignated), by striking “The term” and inserting the following:

“(i) In general.—The term”;

(3) by striking subclause (II) (as so redesignated) and inserting the following:

“(II) Materials generated from forest products manufacturing and wood products manufacturing, including wood residuals, paper residuals, sawdust, wood, wood chips, shavings, bark, sanderdust, and paper recycling residuals (excluding paper in the form and type commonly recycled).”;

(4) by striking subclauses (IV) and (V) (as so redesignated) and inserting the following:

“(IV) Trees, shrubs, and parts of trees or shrubs, including slash and storm debris, from— “(aa) non-Federal land that—

“(AA) is managed under a forest sustainability or logging company certification program;

“(BB) is classified for State or local property tax purposes as forest land, timberland, or land in current use for forestry; or

“(CC) in accordance with clause

(ii), the landowner provides to the Administrator an attestation that the land is being managed for long-term timber production;

“(bb) land within the National Forest System (as defined in section 11(a) of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1609(a))) or public lands (as defined in section 103 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702)), if the Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior, as applicable and in accordance with clause

(ii), certifies to the Administrator, directly or through an authorized officer, that the materials are—

“(AA) by-products from commercial or noncommercial land management activities or material generated from fuel reduction treatments, ecological restoration projects, or pre-commercial thinning;

“(BB) not reasonably suitable for use as a sawlog, as determined by the Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior, as applicable; and

“(CC) sourced in a manner consistent with all applicable Federal laws and regulations governing forest management activities and the applicable forest plan or resource management plan; or

“(cc) land—

“(AA) owned by an Indian tribe; or

“(BB) held in trust by, or subject to a restriction against alienation imposed by, the United States for an Indian tribe or individual Indian.

“(V) Vegetation obtained from— “(aa) within the reasonably established defensible space of a structure or an infrastructure asset, including a residential structure, a commercial building, and a public facility, in accordance with applicable local law or, if there is no applicable local law, the most recent publication of the International Wildland-Urban Interface Code of the International Code Council; or “(bb) wildfire risk reduction activities within the wildland-urban interface (as defined in section 101 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6511)).”; and

(5) by adding at the end the following:

“(ii) Certification and attestation requirements.—A certification or attestation to the Administrator under this subparagraph may be in the form of a letter given to the person seeking to generate credits under this subsection from—

“(I) with respect to the attestation required under clause

(i)(IV)(aa)(CC), the non-Federal landowner; and

“(II) with respect to the certification required under clause

(i)(IV)(bb), the local office of the Department of Agriculture or the Department of the Interior with authority over the applicable forest plan or resource management plan.

“(iii) Inclusion.—For the purpose of this subparagraph, the term ‘non-Federal land’ includes land owned by a Native Corporation (as defined in section 3 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1602)).

“(iv) Savings clause.—Nothing in clause

(i)(IV)(bb) requires the applicable forest plan or resource management plan to expressly identify renewable fuel or biomass energy as an intended end use of the material, provided that the underlying project, removal, sale, or disposition of the material is otherwise authorized and consistent with the applicable forest plan or resource management plan.”. <all>