Forest Organic Residue, Energy, and Safety Transformation (FOREST) and Wildfire Prevention Fund Act

The law links forest-fuel removal with support for existing, idle, and expanded biomass electricity facilities. Funding requires legislative appropriation and cannot come from ratepayer funds.

What the law does ​

• Establishes the FOREST program and FOREST and Wildfire Prevention Fund to support biomass power generation and forest-waste use.
• Allows qualifying in-state facilities to receive monthly incentive payments for electricity generated on or after January 1, 2027.
• Requires eligible facilities to use forest-management waste, with at least 60% sourced from Tier 1 or Tier 2 high hazard zones, and bars waste from clearcut lands.
• Requires facilities to sell electricity to specified retail electricity providers and either operate in listed counties or meet specified emissions limits.
• Requires State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection regulations, public incentive rates, and prioritization of projects that maximize forest-waste disposal.
• Makes Timber Regulation and Forest Restoration Fund support for the FOREST program subject to existing funding priorities and legislative appropriation.

Who it affects ​

• Biomass power-plant operators seeking state reimbursement.
• Forestry and vegetation-management projects supplying eligible forest biomass waste.
• Retail electricity sellers, including community choice aggregators, publicly owned utilities, electrical corporations, and rural cooperatives.