Streamlined NC biomass operation permits advance in Senate GARY D. ROBERTSON, Associated Press May 4, 2021 FacebookTwitterEmail RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The North Carolina General Assembly began moving its annual farm bill Tuesday with a Senate committee voting for legislation that in part would create a more streamlined permit for turning hog waste into energy. Like previous years, the measure contains a hodgepodge of changes, such as exempting fires for cooking and warmth from certain open-burn bans, increasing punishments for stealing timber and clarifying compensation rules for state Forest Service firefighters. But the measure that cleared the Senate agriculture panel also would create “general permits” for animal farm operations that allow the owner to operate a farm digester system that collects methane gas.