§ 15855 — Grants To Improve The Commercial Value Of Forest Biomass For Electric Energy, Useful Heat, Transportation Fuels, And Other Commercial Purposes

(a) In this section: (1) The term “biomass” means nonmerchantable materials or precommercial thinnings that are byproducts of preventive treatments, such as trees, wood, brush, thinnings, chips, and slash, that are removed— (A) to reduce hazardous fuels; (B) to reduce or contain disease or insect infestation; or (C) to restore forest health. (2) The term “Indian tribe” has the meaning given the term in section 5304(e) of title 25. (3) For purposes of subsection (b), the term “nonmerchantable” means that portion of the byproducts of preventive treatments that would not otherwise be used for higher value products. (4) The term “person” includes— (A) an individual; (B) a community (as determined by the Secretary concerned); (C) an Indian tribe; (D) a small business or a corporation that is incorporated in the United States; and (E) a nonprofit organization. (5) The term “preferred community” means— (A) any Indian tribe; (B) any town, township, municipality, or other similar unit of local government (as determined by the Secretary concerned) that— (i) has a population of not more than 50,000 individuals; and (ii) the Secretary concerned, in the sole discretion of the Secretary concerned, determines contains or is located near Federal or Indian land, the condition of which is at significant risk of catastrophic wildfire, disease, or insect infestation or which suffers from disease or insect infestation; or (C) any county that— (i) is not contained within a metropolitan statistical area; and (ii) the Secretary concerned, in the sole discretion of the Secretary concerned, determines contains or is located near Federal or Indian land, the condition of which is at significant risk of catastrophic wildfire, disease, or insect infestation or which suffers from disease or insect infestation. (6) The term “Secretary concerned” means the Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior. (1) The Secretary concerned may make grants to any person in a preferred community that owns or operates a facility that uses biomass as a raw material to produce electric energy, sensible heat, or transportation fuels to offset the costs incurred to purchase biomass for use by such facility. (2) A grant under this subsection may not exceed $20 per green ton of biomass delivered. (3) As a condition of a grant under this subsection, the grant recipient shall keep such records as the Secretary concerned may require to fully and correctly disclose the use of the grant funds and all transactions involved in the purchase of biomass. Upon notice by a representative of the Secretary concerned, the grant recipient shall afford the representative reasonable access to the facility that purchases or uses biomass and an opportunity to examine the inventory and records of the facility. (1) The Secretary concerned may make grants to persons to offset the cost of projects to develop or research opportunities to improve the use of, or add value to, biomass. In making such grants, the Secretary concerned shall give preference to persons in preferred communities. (2) The Secretary concerned shall select a grant recipient under paragraph (1) after giving consideration to— (A) the anticipated public benefits of the project, including the potential to develop thermal or electric energy resources or affordable energy; (B) opportunities for the creation or expansion of small businesses and micro-businesses; (C) the potential for new job creation; (D) the potential for the project to improve efficiency or develop cleaner technologies for biomass utilization; and (E) the potential for the project to reduce the hazardous fuels from the areas in greatest need of treatment. (3) A grant under this subsection may not exceed $500,000. (d) There are authorized to be appropriated $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2006 and $35,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2007 through 2016 to carry out this section. (e) Not later than October 1, 2010, the Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate, and the Committee on Resources, the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives, a report describing the results of the grant programs authorized by this section. The report shall include the following: (1) An identification of the size, type, and use of biomass by persons that receive grants under this section. (2) The distance between the land from which the biomass was removed and the facility that used the biomass. (3) The economic impacts, particularly new job creation, resulting from the grants to and operation of the eligible operations.