SUPPORT S.2197/H.3333 - An Act to Prevent Biomass Energy to Protect the Air We Breathe

THE ISSUE: The Baker Administration has expanded subsidies for woody biomass energy through Massachusetts’ clean energy programs, rolling back critical health and environmental protections and undermining the Commonwealth’s climate goals. [...] As a result, only a handful of small, highly efficient combined heat and power (CHP) biomass plants continued to qualify for Massachusetts’ RPS, while many older, inefficient biomass power plants in Maine and elsewhere in New England were booted out of the program. [...] In 2017, despite the strict limitations on eligible wood heating systems spelled out in the APS statute, the Department of Energy Resources (DOER) adopted weak emissions standards and forest protection guidelines for qualifying wood heating systems in the APS. [...] In 2019, DOER proposed weakening the RPS regulations to match the APS regulations, calling it “regulatory streamlining.” Despite overwhelming public opposition, DOER has pushed through sweeping rule changes that will allow existing polluting biomass plants across the Northeast to once again qualify for Massachusetts’ RPS.1 The one concession DOER made to public pressure was to prohibit biomass pla. [...] Furthermore, new information continues to emerge regarding the health impacts of fine particulate matter emissions (PM2.5), the leading cause of air pollution-related illness and death in the U.