NEWS

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

PHOTO © DANZER