Farm Bill Legislative Side-By-Side

This briefing from the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) provides a legislative side-by-side comparison between current law, the House Agriculture Committee's amended text (May 2024), and the pending Senate version of the Farm Bill regarding the Community Wood Grant Program. The program, managed by the USDA Forest Service, funds community-led thermal wood energy systems and innovative wood product manufacturing facilities.

• The Community Wood Grant Program was established in 2020 to fund innovative wood product manufacturing facilities and community-led thermal wood energy systems. In FY 2021, the program awarded $2.1 million to six projects, which included the construction of a biochar plant to produce a carbon-rich soil health product.
• Funding for the program has been provided through multiple legislative vehicles: the 2018 Farm Bill authorized $25 million annually through FY 2023, while Congress appropriated $15 million in both FY 2023 and FY 2024. Additionally, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) allocated $60 million over five years for the Community Wood and Wood Innovations Grant programs.
• The House Agriculture Committee's May 2024 amended text proposes renaming the 'Community Wood Energy and Wood Innovation Program' to the 'Community Wood Facilities Program'.
• The House version proposes significant increases to project funding caps and system capacities. It suggests raising the maximum grant amount for a project to $5,000,000, compared to the current law's caps of $1,000,000 for general grants and $1,500,000 for special circumstances. It also proposes increasing the nameplate capacity limit for community wood energy systems from 5 megawatts to 15 megawatts.
• The House version proposes expanding the types of facilities eligible for priority funding. While current law prioritizes the use or retrofitting of existing sawmill facilities in high-unemployment areas, the House text expands this to include the 'construction, use or retrofitting of forest products manufacturing facilities'.
• The House version proposes increasing the funding allocation for innovative wood product facilities. Current law limits these grants to 25 percent of annual funds (unless there are insufficient community wood energy system proposals), but the House version proposes increasing this limit to 50 percent.
• The House version proposes extending the program's authorized appropriation timeline from the current FY 2023 limit to FY 2029.

APA

Environmental and Energy Study Institute (2024). Farm Bill Legislative Side-By-Side. https://www.eesi.org/files/Side-by-Side-Farm-Bill-2024-Community-Wood-Grant-Program.pdf

Chicago

Environmental and Energy Study Institute. Farm Bill Legislative Side-By-Side. 2024. https://www.eesi.org/files/Side-by-Side-Farm-Bill-2024-Community-Wood-Grant-Program.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Environmental and Energy Study Institute |title=Farm Bill Legislative Side-By-Side |date=16 July 2024 |url=https://www.eesi.org/files/Side-by-Side-Farm-Bill-2024-Community-Wood-Grant-Program.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{environmentalandenergystudyinstitute2024farm, author = {{Environmental and Energy Study Institute}}, title = {{Farm Bill Legislative Side-By-Side}}, institution = {Environmental and Energy Study Institute}, year = {2024}, month = jul, url = {https://www.eesi.org/files/Side-by-Side-Farm-Bill-2024-Community-Wood-Grant-Program.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }