NEWS

DHA continues to promote the natural beauty of decorative hardwood products. The latest example is in Surface and Panel, where we discuss biophilia and how natural, beautiful hardwood products can help connect us to nature and why this is important.

Regulatory overreach continues with EPA's recent release of its final IRIS risk assessment of formaldehyde. This assessment served as the starting point for regulatory proposals released earlier this year under TSCA, the Toxic Substances Control Act. DHA recently joined allies in a letter to members of Congress opposing the use of IRIS risk assessments in regulatory determinations. IRIS has never been authorized by Congress.

Unfortunately, companies that export to Europe are running out of time when it comes to complying with the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). The American Hardwood Export Council has been focused on this issue for more than a year, now, and many organizations, including DHA, have joined AHEC in advocating to change or postpone the regulations. The latest AHEC European Market Report provides an update on these efforts.

If you have questions or comments, contact me. I look forward to hearing from you.


Keith A. Christman, President
Decorative Hardwoods Association

In the most recent issue of Surface and Panel, DHA discussed the importance of biophilia: the innate human need to connect with nature and living things. Incorporating the natural beauty of decorative hardwoods into the places people spend time—their workplaces and homes—adds a sense of calm and well-being, improves connection, and reduces stress.

EPA recently released its final Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) assessment of formaldehyde. The agency used the draft version of this assessment as a starting point for its regulatory risk evaluation released earlier this year, which includes workplace levels that are not achievable. Despite all of the comments and criticisms of the underlying assessment, the final assessment retains most of EPA's original conclusions and no changes to the IRIS values.

The American Hardwood Export Council has published a new Europe Market Report and a special report on the EU Deforestation Regulation. AHEC is moving forward with a response to the EUDR for the U.S. hardwood industry. Specialists have been hired, data sources secured, and the development of an online platform to demonstrate the negligible risk of illegality and deforestation is already underway. It is important to reiterate that the commonsense solution AHEC is proposing is not fully compliant with the EUDR.

The U.S. House of Representatives recently unveiled a stopgap funding bill, also known as a continuing resolution, that will fund the government at close to current levels through March 28, 2025. The stopgap bill does not include an extension of the farm bill, a bill that contains initiatives important to our industry. As key agriculture lawmakers only want to negotiate a farm bill extension after the election, Congress will need to pass a short-term extension.

The D.C. Circuit Court has ruled that the EPA misinterpreted the Clean Air Act in its 2022 rule on emission standards for industrial boilers and process heaters, or boiler MACT. The court said that EPA misinterpreted the definition of "new source" by determining that a source is "new" based on the original proposed rule date of 2010, finding that EPA had to consider "when each sequential emission standard was first proposed." In this case, that date is 2020. This is a win for companies using boilers built between 2010 and 2020, who might otherwise need to invest in expensive retrofits or replacements.

This year, Vietnam's wood and wood products exports reached $9.5 billion by mid-August, up by 24% year-over-year. Wood products comprised $6.5 billion or 68% of that total. The U.S. continues to be Vietnam's largest export market, buying $4.9 billion from January to mid-August, an increase of 26% vs. last year.

Total EU plywood production fell by 2.5% from 3.2 million cubic meters in 2021 to 3.1 million cubic meters in 2022, then dropped by 15% to just 2.6 million cubic meters in 2023. This is unprecedented. It's the lowest level ever recorded, and only about half of the nearly 5 million cubic meters per year the EU had produced before the COVID pandemic. Imports are also down.

Container freight rates swung wildly between January 2023 and August 2024. Rates fell to a low of $1,340 per 40-foot container in October 2023. That rate has since soared, reaching a record high of $5,900 in July.

The now-bankrupt LL Flooring has agreed to sell its assets to F9 Investments, a company run by Thomas Sullivan, who founded LL Flooring as Lumber Liquidators 30 years ago. F9 will acquire 219 of LL Flooring’s 430 stores, the stores' inventory, and the inventory in the company's massive distribution center in Virginia.

Capital Testing was awarded accreditation for eight new physical properties tests under its ISO/IEC 17025 scope of accreditation. This expansion is part of Capital Testing's continued commitment to meeting the evolving needs of the wood, laminate, and resilient flooring markets.

A French energy company, TotalEnergies, will invest $100 million in what will be the largest-ever purchase of carbon offsets tied to U.S. timberlands. The company states that this will enhance sustainable forest management practices across 740,000 acres in 10 states. TotalEnergies signed with Anew Climate and Aurora Sustainable Lands. The latter is a U.S. carbon-stewardship company that has already cut timber harvests on its properties by more than 50%.

Under the Trump administration, trees were crops. In the Biden administration, trees are guardians of the climate. The upcoming elections will decide which label wins, although the U.S. Forest Service's work on the ground may not change all that much.Under the Trump administration, trees were crops. In the Biden administration, trees are guardians of the climate. The upcoming elections will decide which label wins, although the U.S. Forest Service's work on the ground may not change all that much.

Experts have stated that wildfires are here to stay, as is the damage they inflict on people, property, and the planet. That means that Western management practices need to change to anticipate more years of record fires.

Which profession reports the highest levels of happiness and lowest levels of stress?

Answer: You guessed it: forestry and logging professionals.

Read more: NAFO Forests →

PHOTO © DANZER