The Hardwood Federation produces a “D.C. Cheat Sheet” e-newsletter to maintain the trade up-to-date on the most recent information from Washington D.C. Take a look at the September 14th version beneath and join to obtain your copy.
Farm Invoice Timing Stays a Transferring Goal
As Congress reconvenes this week after the August recess, lawmakers are pushing again timelines that when framed the farm invoice debate. Home Ag Committee Chair and hardwood champion GT Thompson (R-PA), who beforehand aimed to have draft textual content obtainable in early September, is now holding off on sharing textual content for the farm laws till management commits to a window to maneuver a invoice on the Home flooring. The Senate is equally positioned, with each chambers hoping to restrict challenges to agreed upon language. The looming deadline for federal funding that falls on September 30 additionally threatens progress. If a price range settlement can’t be reached, preserving authorities open would require a short lived “stopgap” to keep away from a partial shutdown, a measure as soon as thought-about comparatively simple however now slowed down by points corresponding to support for Ukraine and border safety. The Hardwood Federation staff participated in a name with Home Ag Committee workers on September 11 the place it was emphasised that resolving the federal funding challenge is a prerequisite for clarifying a brand new timeline for the farm invoice.
Business Advocates Standing Quo for Air High quality Requirements
On September 7, the Hardwood Federation joined the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and 32 different trade teams in a letter to EPA chief Michael Regan urging the Biden Administration to retain the present customary for nice particles (PM 2.5) and never transfer ahead with a proposed, stricter customary. The commerce teams level out that whereas the present customary continues to be applied, fires and unpaved roads have surpassed industrial sources, corresponding to sawmills and energy crops, as main drivers of air air pollution. Business states that the financial system, already in a fragile state, mustn’t assume the burden of compliance prices, particularly for a rulemaking that’s discretionary, versus statutory or court docket pushed, on the a part of the administration.
New Labor Contract Stabilizes West Coast Port Operations
After spending greater than a 12 months in limbo, dockworkers represented by the Worldwide Longshore and Warehouse Union signed a contract with west coast port operators, ending a stalemate that has exacerbated provide chains tied to the import and export of products, together with hardwood merchandise, via the nation’s largest ports. Since Could 2022, when talks first started, many companies have rerouted their cargo via much less handy ports on the east coast, including elevated delivery prices throughout an unsure and inflationary financial atmosphere. The brand new contract runs via 2028, including some stability to trade’s provide chain challenges.
Supply: Hardwood Federation