Federal

Climate Agricultural Conservation Practices Act

Source: Congress.gov · 410 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill requires the Natural Resources Conservation Service (a federal agency that helps protect farmland and natural resources) to review national conservation practice standards. The review must consider how these practices affect climate. The bill is called the Climate Agricultural Conservation Practices Act.

Who It Affects

The Natural Resources Conservation Service is directly affected by this bill.

Key Provisions

• The Natural Resources Conservation Service must complete its review of national conservation practice standards within 5 years after this bill becomes law (Sec. 2(1)(A)). • When reviewing the standards, the agency must evaluate the climate benefits of those standards (Sec. 2(1)(D)). • The agency must consider climate benefits along with conservation innovations and other factors when reviewing the standards (Sec. 2(2)). • The bill defines "climate benefit" to mean either a reduction in agricultural greenhouse gas emissions, an increase in carbon sequestration (removing carbon from the air and storing it), or protection against increasing weather volatility (unpredictable weather patterns) (Sec. 2(3)).

What Changes

If this bill becomes law, the Natural Resources Conservation Service must include climate benefits in its review of conservation practice standards. Previously, the law required a review within 1 year of an earlier agriculture law. This bill extends that timeline to 5 years and adds the requirement to evaluate climate benefits specifically.

Important Definitions

• Climate benefit: a reduction in farm greenhouse gas emissions, an increase in carbon sequestration, or protection against unpredictable weather patterns.

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 708 To require the Natural Resources Conservation Service to review the national conservation practice standards, taking into consideration climate bene- fits, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 1, 2023 Ms. BROWNLEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture A BILL To require the Natural Resources Conservation Service to review the national conservation practice standards, tak- ing into consideration climate benefits, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Climate Agricultural 4 Conservation Practices Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:09 Feb 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H708.IH H708 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 708 IH SEC. 2. CONSIDERATION OF CLIMATE BENEFITS IN CON- 1 SERVATION PRACTICE STANDARDS. 2 Section 1242(h) of the Food Security Act of 1985 3 (16 U.S.C. 3842(h)) is amended— 4 (1) in paragraph (1)— 5 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘1 6 year after the date of enactment of the Agri- 7 culture Improvement Act of 2018’’ and insert- 8 ing ‘‘5 years after the date of enactment of the 9 Climate Agricultural Conservation Practices 10 Act’’; 11 (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘; 12 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 13 (C) in subparagraph (D), by striking the 14 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 15 (D) by adding at the end the following: 16 ‘‘(E) evaluate the climate benefits of the 17 standards.’’; 18 (2) in paragraph (3)(B), by striking ‘‘conserva- 19 tion innovations and’’ and inserting ‘‘climate bene- 20 fits, conservation innovations, and’’; and 21 (3) by adding at the end the following: 22 ‘‘(5) CLIMATE BENEFIT DEFINED.—In this sub- 23 section, the term ‘climate benefit’ means— 24 ‘‘(A) a reduction in agricultural green- 25 house gas emissions; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:09 Feb 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H708.IH H708 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 708 IH ‘‘(B) an increase in carbon sequestration; 1 or 2 ‘‘(C) mitigation against, or adaptation to, 3 increased weather volatility.’’. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:09 Feb 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H708.IH H708 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS

Important: This plain English summary was generated by AI and is provided for informational purposes only. It is not legal advice. Always consult the official bill text on Congress.gov or a qualified attorney for legal matters.