Bipartisan, House Lawmakers Introduce White Oak Resilience Act

A bipartisan group of House members have introduced H.R. 5582, the White Oak Resilience Act, legislation intended to prevent the supply of white oak lumber from dwindling to unsustainable levels as market demand for the material remains high. The effort is being coordinated by the White Oak Initiative.  The intention of the bill is not to restrict current harvesting of white oak, rather it is to work with the U.S. Forest Service and landowners to increase the future supply through research, reforestation, and planting.  Among other things, the bill would establish pilot projects for the USFS “to regenerate white oak where appropriate” and empowers the Civilian Conservation Corps to “plant white oak and associated hardwoods” in order to increase white oak and other hardwood species growth and re-establish native hardwood forests. While the bill has been referred to the House Ag Committee, a path forward is not certain at this time. You can read more about the White Oak Initiative HERE.

Feds Wade into Carbon Markets

As manufacturers have complied with mandatory carbon markets at the state level, notably California’s cap-and trade initiative, private markets with varying emissions requirements have been jumping on the bandwagon to push their own brands of carbon offsets.  This has created a wild-wild west scenario that leaves many stakeholders questioning the efficacy of these pop-up programs.  Recently, the Administration has begun to weigh in by announcing it will attempt to avoid so-called “greenwashing” of operations for purposes of carbon offsets.  Without going into detail, the White House lead on international climate issues, John Podesta, announced last week that the Administration intends to promote “real and permanent reductions” among market players.  The Federation will keep you posted on developments as details unfold.

EPA Releases Rules Package for Power Sector

In an unprecedented action today, EPA finalized a package of new rules under multiple federal environmental programs, ranging from air toxics to waste management and the Clean Water Act, focusing on the power generation sector. Although today’s action, which will have an impact on electricity prices, has been praised for aligning compliance timelines among multiple programs, many industry groups are criticizing the package for ignoring potential impacts on the electrical grid and overreliance on new carbon capture technology.  The Federation will keep you posted on details related to the agency’s action.