Title
Forest Stewardship Incentive Plan Referral Item #070181(B)
Protection of forest ecosystems is a critical concern related to the development of a biomass fueled power plant to serve the Gainesville Community. The Regional Utilities Committee (RUC), working with staff, an advisory group of professionals involved in the forest industry, consultants, and concerned citizens have developed a plan to help assure protection of forest ecosystems. The key elements of this plan are minimum standards that assure that industry best management practices are followed for any fuel acquired for the proposed power plant, and a financial incentive plan to reward growers that invest in superior forest management practices as certified by selected independent certification programs.
Explanation
On June 18, 2007 the City Commission referred the issue of standards for the procurement of biomass fuel derived from forestry operations to the Regional Utilities Committee (RUC). The RUC met several times with staff, an advisory group of professionals involved in the forest industry, consultants, and concerned citizens to develop a plan to help assure protection of forest ecosystems. The two key elements of this plan are first, minimum standards that assure that industry best management practices are followed for any fuel acquired for the proposed power plant, and second, a financial incentive plan to reward growers that participate in independent certification programs designed to promote superior forest management practices.
The minimum standards for forest-produced biomass will be a contractual obligation of the power plant owner and operator, former called Nacogdoches Energy but now called American Renewables (AR). In summary, these minimum standards include: using professional foresters for biomass acquisition; only utilizing biomass harvested in compliance with the Florida Division of Forestry's Best Management Practices; not using biomass from the conversion of nat...
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