Corpsmember Jesus Lopez uses a chainsaw to remove branches on a downed tree at the Lost Claim Campground in the Stanislaus National Forest.
Source: CCC
March 20, 2023 - The Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC) reports Assembly Bill 998, authored by Assembly Member Damon Connolly (D-Santa Rosa), requires the Energy Commission to prepare a report on utility-scale biomass combustion facilities, including the capacity of those facilities to process forest biomass, the role they play in achieving the state’s forest health and wildfire risk reduction objectives, and ways to maximize the environmental benefits of those facilities. The report must recommend strategies on how to upgrade those facilities, associated costs, and financing opportunities, and how any loss in capacity would be addressed by the future closing of any of those facilities.
Importantly, AB 998 also requires the Energy Commission to evaluate the feasibility of upgrading shuttered biomass facilities to determine whether they can help the state increase its capacity to manage forest and excess biomass waste. Evaluating opportunities to upgrade and repower these shuttered facilities could help revitalize many local rural economies, increase baseload renewable energy generation, and significantly increase capacity to deal with wood waste coming from forest health improvement and wildfire risk reduction projects.
RCRC strongly supports AB 998 and its evaluation of the key role that existing and shuttered biomass facilities play in addressing wildfire risk and improving forest health. RCRC’s letter in support can be found here.
AB 998 has been set for hearing in the Assembly Natural Resources Committee on March 27th. Letters in support are due to the committee by close of business on March 20th to be listed in the committee analysis (late letters will be accepted, but will not be reflected in the analysis).
ABOUT RURAL COUNTY REPRESENTATIVES OF CALIFORNIA (RCRC)
The Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC) is a thirty-seven member county strong service organization that champions policies on behalf of California’s rural counties. RCRC is dedicated to representing the collective unique interests of its membership, providing legislative and regulatory representation at the State and Federal levels, and providing responsible services for its members to enhance and protect the quality of life in rural California counties. To learn more about RCRC, visit rcrcnet.org and follow @RuralCounties on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Source: RCRC