Every August, federal lawmakers take a recess from their work in Washington, D.C. and use the month to visit constituents at home. For our industry, the recess (which goes through Sept. 6) provides an opportunity to schedule a meeting with members of Congress and their staff to discuss issues that affect us, or even better, invite them to come visit your facilities. Due to the November elections, this summer’s recess will be one of the longest summer recess periods ever, so there is lots of time to make those connections.
AWC’s Recommended “Recess Game Plan”
Call your federal legislators’ local offices now to set up a meeting for when they are near your town. Or, as suggested, invite them (and key policy staff) to one of your facilities for a tour so that they can see (first-hand) what your company does, meet with some of your employees, and better understand the value your company brings to the community.
Regardless of whether you plan a meeting with your legislators or arrange a site visit, here are some important issues affecting wood product manufacturers that need to be addressed in Congress that you might want to raise:
- Timber Innovation Act. The U.S. Senate, led by Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Mike Crapo (R-ID), introduced the Timber Innovation Act (S. 2892). A House companion bill (H.R. 5628) has also been introduced by Reps. Suzan DelBene (D-WA) and Glenn "GT" Thompson (R-PA). Both bills would:
- Establish performance-driven research and development program for advancing tall wood building construction in the United States;
- Authorize the Tall Wood Building Prize Competition through the U.S. Department of Agriculture annually for the next five years;
- Codify the Forest Service's Wood Innovation Grant program and expand it to facilitate Centers of Excellence and provide grants to states to fund education, outreach, research and development, including education and assistance for architects and builders, which will accelerate the use of wood in tall buildings.
- The House bill also includes language allowing the Wood Innovation Grant program to support proposals to use and/or retrofit existing sawmill facilities in areas with high unemployment to produce mass timber materials.
- Carbon Neutrality of Biomass. Wood products manufacturers use biomass from manufacturing and sustainable forestry operations to produce energy, providing significant carbon​-reducing benefits to the environment. In fact, on average, 78% of the energy from AWC-member facilities is generated from carbon-neutral biomass. EPA’s current and proposed greenhouse gas (GHG) regulations fail to recognize the carbon neutrality of the use of biomass for energy or distinguish biogenic fuel carbon emissions from fossil fuel emissions. Tell members of Congress that policies should recognize that the use of these residuals for energy is carbon neutral because if left unused would have ultimately released CO2 and methane to the atmosphere anyway.
- Energy Bill. Both the House and Senate have passed energy bills (H.R. 8 and S. 2012), but the two are very different and need to be reconciled. There are a number of provisions in both bills that the wood products industry supports. In the House bill, AWC supports the building energy code product neutrality provisions, which would return the Department of Energy to its congressionally-authorized role as a ‘technical advisor’ and not using its position to advocate for particular products or technologies in building energy codes. AWC supports the Senate bill provisions that recognize the carbon benefits of biomass energy and require consistent policies across all departments and agencies, as well as recognition of multiple green building rating systems.
Congress will get back to work in Washington on Tuesday, Sept. 6. In the meantime, and while they’re home, it’s important that they hear from you and your opinions on key wood products manufacturing issues so they’re at the forefront of their minds when they pivot back to legislative responsibilities in D.C. There will be few remaining working days left for Congress when they return – NOW is the perfect time to communicate our priority issues to them.
So, make your next step a call to your Senators’ and Representatives’ local legislative offices to schedule an appointment or invite your Senators and House members for a facility visit. You can also visit legislators’ websites to find public events to attend today and use AWC’s Grow the Vote website to help find federal legislator contact information. AWC staff can also assist you in preparing for your meeting or visit. Go to: bit.ly/AWCVote.