Wildfire Reduction Market Expansion Act of 2026

Section 2 updates the definition of renewable biomass to include materials generated from forest products manufacturing and wood products manufacturing, such as wood residuals, paper residuals, sawdust, wood, wood chips, shavings, bark, sanderdust, and paper recycling residuals. This could benefit wood and paper product industries by providing clearer market opportunities for their byproduct materials.

Section 2 allows trees, shrubs, and parts of trees or shrubs from non-Federal land, Indian tribe land, or land held in trust by the United States to qualify as renewable biomass if managed under specific forestry programs or long-term timber production attestations. This may provide landowners and tribes with economic options for managing their timber and forestry waste.

Section 2 includes vegetation obtained from within the reasonably established defensible space of a structure or infrastructure asset, as well as vegetation from wildfire risk reduction activities within the wildland-urban interface. This provision directly supports community safety and wildfire reduction efforts by allowing cleared hazardous vegetation to be utilized within the renewable fuel standard.