American Wood Council (AWC) president Robert Glowinski has warned the wood products industry could be hard hit by excessive clean air regulations.
Mr Glowinski issued a statement following the American Forest & Paper Association’s (AF&PA) release of a new study conducted by Fisher International showing large potential job losses due to new regulations, specifically the proposed Boiler MACT rule.
“Although the AF&PA study focused on job losses in the pulp and paper sector, it is very reasonable to expect that mills and jobs in the wood products sector will also be hard hit,” he said.
“The wood product sector would face about US$1.8bn in capital expenditures under the proposed Boiler MACT rule. With the continuation of the downturn in the housing market, even less capital availability, and lack of profits in the last two years, tens of thousands of jobs could also be at risk in the wood products sector from Boiler MACT.”
He said job loss numbers would extend beyond wood product sector workers to include others in the wood products supply chain as well as other businesses, many in rural communities, who are supported by mill workers and their families.
