Bill > S1735

This bill, the Community Wood Facilities Assistance Act of 2023, aims to amend the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to improve assistance to community wood facilities. Key provisions include: 1) Renaming the "Energy and Wood Innovation" program to the "Facilities Grant" program and increasing the grant maximum from $5 million to $5 million per project. 2) Expanding the program's focus to include processing and manufacturing of primarily forest biomass, rather than just woody biomass. 3) Increasing the federal cost-share from 35% to 50% and allowing the use of grants for improving market competitiveness, in addition to cost-effectiveness. 4) Expanding the eligible project size from 5 megawatts of thermal or combined energy to 15 megawatts of thermal energy. 5) Increasing the total program funding from $25 million per year to $50 million per year for fiscal years 2024-2028. 6) Amending the separate Wood Innovations Grant Program to focus on expanding forest products manufacturing, rather than just incentivizing use of existing sawmills.