H.R. 5597 — BECCS Advancement Commission Act of 2025

This section establishes in the Department of Agriculture the Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage Advancement Commission (BECCS Advancement Commission) to develop policy recommendations and metrics for advancing bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) systems or power plants, including their benefits for communities, forest health, and wildfire management. (As background, BECCS produces energy from biomass while capturing and storing carbon dioxide emissions underground to achieve net-negative emissions.) The commission comprises 13-14 members, including the Under Secretary of Agriculture for Rural Development (as chair), agency designees from the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Department of Energy Bioenergy Technologies Office, plus nonfederal representatives from state foresters, timber industry, state energy officials, BECCS industry (4), and Secure Rural Schools counties (1-2). The Secretary of Agriculture must appoint nonfederal members within 180 days of enactment; the commission holds its first meeting within 30 days thereafter, meets quarterly, and submits a report to congressional committees within one year of that meeting containing policy recommendations, metrics, and legislative proposals on BECCS deployment, biomass from federal lands, job growth, energy reliability, and wildfire mitigation, with optional interim reports.