Cantwell and Kilmer Tout Bill to Support Innovation in Wood Building Construction, Tour Site of Future SPI Timber Mill
Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Representative Derek Kilmer (WA-06) held a roundtable in Shelton, WA to discuss innovative wood products and their bipartisan bill that could create jobs and opportunities for rural communities.
The Timber Innovation Act would advance innovative wood products such as cross-laminated timber (CLT). CLT has received attention for being a less expensive and less carbon-intensive than alternative building products.
The members were joined at the site by local timber industry officials, environmental groups, and economic development stakeholders. The use of CLT products could help reduce future building costs, improve environmental impact, strengthen structures in the face of seismic disturbances, and provide needed opportunities to strengthen our nation’s timber industry.
“Devastating fires across the state have cost billions to fight. Cross-laminated timber and long term timber contracts could help us maintain better forest health while bolstering local economies,” said Cantwell. “CLT is beginning to open new market opportunities. This is something the forest products industry has shown us time and again: new technologies can create new markets for wood and assist us in maintaining healthy working forests.”
“Folks in our region don’t want our top export to be our young people,” said Kilmer. “Cross-laminated timber gives us a chance to utilize an abundant and sustainable product native to Washington state that connects rural economies to greener urban growth. We will continue to fight for our bipartisan bill so we can make it easier for construction sites across the country to use sturdy, innovative, renewable wood products grown and manufactured on the Olympic Peninsula.”
The legislation would:
- Establish a new performance driven research and development program on tall wood building construction in the United States;
- Authorize the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) popular Tall Wood Building Prize Competition for the next five years;
- Create federal grants for state, local, tribal, university and private sector entities to support education and outreach to accelerate the use of wood in tall buildings;
- Incentivize the retrofitting of existing facilities located in areas with high unemployment rates; and
- Authorize technical assistance from USDA, in cooperation with qualified state officials, to address evolving building codes when utilizing mass timber products.
A number of public and private entities in the Pacific Northwest are exploring how to make the best use of local resources, a skilled workforce, and mill infrastructure to develop and produce environmentally friendly, sustainable, and durable CLT products that can create jobs in local communities.
After the roundtable, Senator Cantwell and Representative Kilmer toured the site of a sawmill scheduled to be opened in 2017 and to be run by Sierra Pacific Industries in Shelton. The mill is estimated to provide about 200 local jobs.
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