42 U.S.C. § 15855 — Grants to improve the commercial value of forest biomass for electric energy, useful heat, transportation fuels, and other commercial purposes

(a) Definitions. (1) Biomass: nonmerchantable materials or precommercial thinnings — leftover trees, wood, brush, thinnings, chips, and slash from preventive forest treatments — removed to (A) cut hazardous fuels, (B) reduce or contain disease or insect infestation, or (C) restore forest health. (2) Indian tribe: has the meaning given in section 5304(e) of title 25. (3) Nonmerchantable: for subsection (b), this means the part of these byproducts that wouldn't otherwise be used to make higher-value products. (4) Person: includes (A) an individual, (B) a community, as the Secretary concerned decides, (C) an Indian tribe, (D) a small business or U.S.-incorporated corporation, and (E) a nonprofit organization. (5) Preferred community: means (A) any Indian tribe; (B) any town, township, municipality, or similar local government unit that (i) has a population of 50,000 or less, and (ii) the Secretary concerned decides, at the Secretary's sole discretion, contains or sits near federal or Indian land facing serious wildfire, disease, or insect-infestation risk, or already suffering from disease or infestation; or (C) any county that (i) isn't inside a metropolitan statistical area, and (ii) the Secretary concerned decides meets that same land-risk test. (6) Secretary concerned: means the Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior. (b) Biomass commercial use grant program. (1) In general: the Secretary concerned can give grants to anyone in a preferred community who owns or runs a facility that uses biomass to produce electricity, useful heat, or transportation fuels — to offset the cost of buying that biomass. (2) Grant amounts: a grant cannot exceed $20 per green ton of biomass delivered. (3) Monitoring of grant recipient activities: as a condition of the grant, the recipient must keep whatever records the Secretary concerned requires, showing exactly how the grant money was used and how the biomass was purchased. When notified, the recipient must give a Secretary's representative reasonable access to the facility, and let them examine its inventory and records. (c) Improved biomass use grant program. (1) In general: the Secretary concerned can give grants to people to offset the cost of projects that research or develop better ways to use, or add value to, biomass, giving preference to people in preferred communities. (2) Selection: the Secretary concerned picks recipients by weighing (A) the expected public benefits, including developing thermal or electric energy or affordable energy; (B) chances to create or grow small and micro-businesses; (C) potential for new jobs; (D) potential to improve efficiency or develop cleaner biomass technology; and (E) potential to reduce hazardous fuels in the areas that need it most. (3) Grant amount: a grant under this part cannot exceed $500,000. (d) Authorization of appropriations. Congress authorized $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2006, and $35,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2007 through 2016. (e) Report. By October 1, 2010, the Secretary of Agriculture, working with the Secretary of the Interior, had to send Congress a report on how these grant programs worked, covering (1) the size, type, and use of biomass by grant recipients; (2) the distance between where the biomass came from and the facility that used it; and (3) the economic effects — especially new jobs — from the grants and the operations they funded.