NEFI has transmitted a letter to Congress in support of the Wildfire Reduction Market Expansion Act of 2026, introduced July 22 as S. 5087 in the Senate and H.R. 9827 in the House. President and CEO Jim Collura signed the July 31 letter, which went to the bill's lead sponsors, Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) and Representatives Cliff Bentz (R-OR) and Bennie Thompson (D-MS), and was copied to the other offices engaged on the measure. The Senate bill sits with the Environment and Public Works Committee and the House bill with Energy and Commerce.

The bill would modernize the definition of renewable biomass at section 211(o)(1)(I) of the Clean Air Act. Wood that comes from responsible forest management currently has a harder path to qualifying under the Renewable Fuel Standard than most other renewable inputs, even though it can be converted into the same fuels our members already blend. The bill would let low-value wood and mill residuals compete on the same terms as every other qualifying feedstock, including small-diameter trees, slash and storm debris, precommercial thinning material, chips, sawdust, bark, and shavings, while preserving the sourcing safeguards, certification, and attestation requirements that give the program its integrity. Material that is stranded, burned, or left in place today as a hazardous fuel load would instead become a usable input for advanced fuels.

NEFI has offered to serve as a resource to the sponsors on the feedstock and fuel-market implications of the bill as it moves. Read the full letter here.