The House Energy and Commerce Committee voted 33-25 on May 21 to pass sweeping legislation that would overhaul U.S. energy and global warming policy and recognize waste-to-energy as a climate-friendly renewable resource.  Democrats largely held together in support of the 946-page bill shaped over several months of closed-door negotiations and nearly 40 hours of debate.  The major provisions of the legislation approved by the Energy and Commerce Committee with respect to waste-to-energy include:

• Renewable energy standard (RES). The bill includes waste-to-energy as a renewable electricity generator eligible to generate and sell renewable energy credits subject to certain limitations and conditions.
• Greenhouse gas cap. The bill would not regulate waste-to-energy facilities under the greenhouse gas cap if more than 95 percent of the fuel combusted was municipal solid waste on a heat-input basis.
• Greenhouse gas offsets. The bill would allow any person to petition the EPA to seek inclusion as an eligible greenhouse gas offset project type.
• Federal renewable procurement. The legislation does not change the federal renewable procurement program, which currently allows federal agencies to use waste-to-energy to satisfy their renewable mandates established in the Energy Policy Act of 2005.