The Hardwood Federation has started producing a new weekly “D.C. Cheat Sheet” newsletter to keep the industry up-to-date on the latest news from Washington D.C. Check out last week’s version below and sign up to receive your copy today.
What’s Congress up to this week?
Congress has left Washington and gone home for a week-long “work period” in the various states. Unfinished business includes finalizing spending bills to fund all the federal agencies for 2022 by March 11, when the current funding expires. As part of this process, the Hardwood Federation is anticipating a victory on our long-supported directive requiring federal regulators to recognize the carbon neutrality of biomass energy that we use in our mills.
What’s industry’s latest move on the climate front?
The Hardwood Federation is spearheading a coalition of wood products groups to coordinate efforts to make sure federal legislation gives industry credit for the carbon stored in our lumber and finished products. So far, the group has met three times and is mapping a path forward in 2022. Among other things, the coalition is focused on getting in on the ground floor discussions about the upcoming farm bill, which Congress will address in 2023.
Is Congress making progress on shipping bottlenecks?
On February 3, Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and John Thune (R-SD) introduced the “Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022,” a companion to the Hardwood Federation supported House bill that was passed last year. So far, the bill has gained major bipartisan support, which will tee it up for negotiations with the House to hammer out a final version. The goal of the legislation is to prevent foreign shippers from leaving U.S. ports empty-handed, hamstringing exports of U.S. hardwood products.
Source: Hardwood Federation