2007 U.S. Code
Title 7 - AGRICULTURE
CHAPTER 112 - BIOMASS RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Sec. 8601 - Findings

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§8601. Findings

Congress finds that—

(1) conversion of biomass into biobased industrial products offers outstanding potential for benefit to the national interest through—

(A) improved strategic security and balance of payments;

(B) healthier rural economies;

(C) improved environmental quality;

(D) near-zero net greenhouse gas emissions;

(E) technology export; and

(F) sustainable resource supply;

(2) the key technical challenges to be overcome in order for biobased industrial products to be cost-competitive are finding new technology and reducing the cost of technology for converting biomass into desired biobased industrial products;

(3) biobased fuels, such as ethanol, have the clear potential to be sustainable, low cost, and high performance fuels that are compatible with both current and future transportation systems and provide near-zero net greenhouse gas emissions;

(4) biobased chemicals have the clear potential for environmentally benign product life cycles;

(5) biobased power can—

(A) provide environmental benefits;

(B) promote rural economic development; and

(C) diversify energy resource options;

(6) many biomass feedstocks suitable for industrial processing show the clear potential for sustainable production, in some cases resulting in improved soil fertility and carbon sequestration;

(7)(A) grain processing mills are biorefineries that produce a diversity of useful food, chemical, feed, and fuel products; and

(B) technologies that result in further diversification of the range of value-added biobased industrial products can meet a key need for the grain processing industry;

(8)(A) cellulosic feedstocks are attractive because of their low cost and widespread availability; and

(B) research resulting in cost-effective technology to overcome the recalcitrance of cellulosic biomass would allow biorefineries to produce fuels and bulk chemicals on a very large scale, with a commensurately large realization of the benefit described in paragraph (1);

(9) research into the fundamentals to understand important mechanisms of biomass conversion can be expected to accelerate the application and advancement of biomass processing technology by—

(A) increasing the confidence and speed with which new technologies can be scaled up; and

(B) giving rise to processing innovations based on new knowledge;

(10) the added utility of biobased industrial products developed through improvements in processing technology would encourage the design of feedstocks that would meet future needs more effectively;

(11) the creation of value-added biobased industrial products would create new jobs in construction, manufacturing, and distribution, as well as new higher-valued exports of products and technology;

(12)(A) because of the relatively short-term time horizon characteristic of private sector investments, and because many benefits of biomass processing are in the national interest, it is appropriate for the Federal Government to provide precommercial investment in fundamental research and research-driven innovation in the biomass processing area; and

(B) such an investment would provide a valuable complement to ongoing and past governmental support in the biomass processing area; and

(13) several prominent studies, including studies by the President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology and the National Research Council—

(A) support the potential for large research-driven advances in technologies for production of biobased industrial products as well as associated benefits; and

(B) document the need for a focused, integrated, and innovation-driven research effort to provide the appropriate progress in a timely manner.

(Pub. L. 106–224, title III, §302, June 20, 2000, 114 Stat. 428.)

Short Title

Pub. L. 106–224, title III, §301, June 20, 2000, 114 Stat. 428, provided that: “This title [enacting this chapter] may be cited as the ‘Biomass Research and Development Act of 2000’.”

Executive Order No. 13134

Ex. Ord. No. 13134, Aug. 12, 1999, 64 F.R. 44639, as amended by Ex. Ord. No. 13225, §3(a), Sept. 28, 2001, 66 F.R. 50291, which established the Interagency Council on Biobased Products and Bioenergy to prepare annual strategic plans for the President outlining overall national goals in the development and use of biobased products and bioenergy and directed the Secretaries of Agriculture and Energy to create working groups on biobased products and activities in their respective Departments and to establish a joint National Biobased Products and Bioenergy Coordination Office, was revoked by Ex. Ord. No. 13423, §11(a)(iii), Jan. 24, 2007, 72 F.R. 3923, set out in a note under section 4321 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare.