BTEC continues to work the House and Senate to advance a more robust Community Wood Energy Program (CWEP) in the next Farm Bill. We have led and participated in dozens of meeting over the last few weeks to build support for $250 million in mandatory funding for CWEP which would be paired with a broadened scope to not only include deployment of wood heating systems, but also grants for innovative wood products facilities.
Both the House and Senate are now putting pen to paper on the Farm Bill and hope to have proposals to mark up in committee the first quarter of this year. So we are in crunch time with our energy lobbying efforts and are working with our Forests in the Farm Bill partners on including a modified CWEP program in the base text of Farm Bill proposals that will be unveiled in the House and Senate in the coming weeks.