A bill that would allow forest products to qualify for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) BioPreferred Program has been introduced in the U.S. Senate.
The Forest Products Fairness Act of 2012 (S. 2346) would modify the program’s definition of “biobased” materials to specifically include forest products.
Senators Mark Pryor (D-ARK) and Roy Blunt (R – MO), sponsors of the bill, said that the designation would level the playing field between domestically-produced wood products and imported products such as Chinese bamboo, which is already eligible for the biobased label and used as a “green” alternative for hardwood flooring or lumber.
“Under this program, American forestry producers will have more opportunities to increase consumer demand for environmentally-friendly biobased wood products,” said Blunt.
The forest products industry praised the bill, saying that it would correct a blatant deficiency with the BioPreferred Program.
“It’s difficult to imagine how some wood products could have been excluded from the program in the first place since they are all made from biobased sources,” said Robert Glowinski, president of the American Wood Council (AWC).
According to the AWC, products with as little as 25% biobased content are recognized under the program’s current implementation guidelines, while many traditional wood products that have up to 100% biobased content are not.
