Healthy Soils Healthy Climate Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1356 To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to create permanent payments within the environmental quality incentives program for soil health prac- tices and carbon sequestration monitoring, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 22, 2021 Mr. WYDEN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry A BILL To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to create perma- nent payments within the environmental quality incen- tives program for soil health practices and carbon seques- tration monitoring, 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 ‘‘Healthy Soils Healthy 4 Climate Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:57 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1356.IS S1356 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1356 IS SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE FOOD SECURITY ACT OF 1 1985. 2 (a) INCREASED PAYMENTS FOR HIGH-PRIORITY 3 PRACTICES.—Section 1240B(d)(7)(A) of the Food Secu- 4 rity Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–2(d)(7)(A)) is amend- 5 ed— 6 (1) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end; 7 (2) in clause (iv), by striking the period at the 8 end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 9 (3) by adding at the end the following: 10 ‘‘(v) increases soil organic carbon lev- 11 els.’’. 12 (b) INCENTIVE PAYMENTS FOR SOIL HEALTH PRAC- 13 TICES AND CARBON SEQUESTRATION MONITORING.— 14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1240B of the Food 15 Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–2) is 16 amended by adding at the end the following: 17 ‘‘(k) INCENTIVE PAYMENTS FOR SOIL HEALTH 18 PRACTICES AND CARBON SEQUESTRATION MONI- 19 TORING.— 20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide 21 incentive payments to producers to adopt practices 22 designed to improve soil health through increasing 23 carbon levels in soil (referred to in this section as 24 ‘soil organic carbon levels’). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:57 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1356.IS S1356 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1356 IS ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—In providing the incen- 1 tive payments under paragraph (1), the Secretary 2 shall— 3 ‘‘(A) establish payments to provide an in- 4 centive for the use of practices across a variety 5 of geographic regions that— 6 ‘‘(i) improve soil health; 7 ‘‘(ii) sequester carbon in the soil; or 8 ‘‘(iii) meet the goals described in 9 clauses (i) and (ii); and 10 ‘‘(B) establish protocols for measuring soil 11 organic carbon levels before and after treatment 12 under this subsection to measure gains in soil 13 health as a result of the practices. 14 ‘‘(3) PRIORITY.—In providing incentive pay- 15 ments under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall give 16 priority to providing the payments to— 17 ‘‘(A) small producers, as determined by the 18 Secretary; 19 ‘‘(B) producers in rural areas, as deter- 20 mined by the Secretary; or 21 ‘‘(C) socially disadvantaged farmers, as de- 22 termined by the Secretary. 23 ‘‘(4) STUDY; REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:57 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1356.IS S1356 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1356 IS ‘‘(A) STUDY.—Not later than 2 years after 1 the date of enactment of this subsection, and 2 every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary shall 3 conduct a study regarding changes in soil 4 health and soil organic carbon levels as a result 5 of the practices used under this subsection. 6 ‘‘(B) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later 7 than 2 years after the date of enactment of this 8 subsection, and every 2 years thereafter, the 9 Secretary shall submit to Congress a report de- 10 scribing and analyzing the results of the study 11 conducted under subparagraph (A). 12 ‘‘(C) INCLUSION.—The report under sub- 13 paragraph (B) shall include an analysis of— 14 ‘‘(i) the effect of various practices on 15 soil organic carbon levels; 16 ‘‘(ii) the extent to which the lessons 17 learned in carrying out this subsection can 18 be transferred to other geographic regions; 19 ‘‘(iii) further data required to sub- 20 stantiate the connection between soil or- 21 ganic carbon levels and crop yield and re- 22 siliency, if applicable; 23 ‘‘(iv) the effect of multiple practices 24 on soil organic carbon levels; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:57 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1356.IS S1356 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1356 IS ‘‘(v) potential barriers to data collec- 1 tion across a variety of geographic re- 2 gions.’’. 3 (2) FUNDING.—Section 1240B(f) of the Food 4 Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–2(f)) is 5 amended by adding at the end the following: 6 ‘‘(3) INCENTIVE PAYMENTS FOR SOIL HEALTH 7 PRACTICES AND CARBON SEQUESTRATION MONI- 8 TORING.—For each fiscal year for which funds are 9 made available under section 1241(a)(3)(A), of the 10 funds made available for payments under the pro- 11 gram, $100,000,000 shall be used to provide incen- 12 tive payments under subsection (k).’’. 13 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 14 1240H of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 15 3839aa–8) is amended— 16 (A) in subsection (c), by striking para- 17 graph (7); and 18 (B) in subsection (d)(1)— 19 (i) in subparagraph (B), by adding 20 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 21 (ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 22 ‘‘; and’’ and inserting a period; and 23 (iii) by striking subparagraph (D). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:57 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1356.IS S1356 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1356 IS (c) PRIORITY FOR SOIL HEALTH AND CARBON SE- 1 QUESTRATION.—Section 1240B of the Food Security Act 2 of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–2) (as amended by subsection 3 (b)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 4 ‘‘(l) PRIORITY FOR SOIL HEALTH AND CARBON SE- 5 QUESTRATION.— 6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To the maximum extent 7 feasible, the Secretary shall manage the program to 8 promote practices at least 1 of the benefits of which 9 is enhancement of soil health or increasing soil or- 10 ganic carbon levels. 11 ‘‘(2) SOIL HEALTH AND CARBON SEQUESTRA- 12 TION ON ELIGIBLE LAND.—The Secretary shall— 13 ‘‘(A) develop ranking and scoring criteria 14 under the program that prioritize practices that 15 score highest in soil carbon sequestration on eli- 16 gible land; and 17 ‘‘(B) develop a soil organic carbon con- 18 servation activity plan under the program to 19 measure and monitor sequestration and mitiga- 20 tion improvement levels from the practices de- 21 scribed in subparagraph (A), such as cover 22 crops, crop rotation, and improved soil manage- 23 ment.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:57 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1356.IS S1356 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1356 IS (d) STREAMLINING AND COORDINATION.—Section 1 1240B of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 2 3839aa–2) (as amended by subsection (c)) is amended by 3 adding at the end the following: 4 ‘‘(m) STREAMLINING AND COORDINATION.—To the 5 maximum extent feasible, the Secretary shall provide for 6 streamlined and coordinated procedures for the program 7 and the conservation stewardship program under sub- 8 chapter B, including applications, contracting, conserva- 9 tion planning, conservation practices, and related adminis- 10 trative procedures.’’. 11 (e) SOIL HEALTH AND CARBON SCIENCE RESEARCH 12 PROGRAM AT AGRICULTURE RESEARCH STATIONS.—The 13 Secretary of Agriculture shall establish a program— 14 (1) to provide grants to land-grant colleges and 15 universities to conduct research relating to soil 16 health and carbon science; and 17 (2) to conduct research relating to soil health 18 and carbon science at agriculture research stations 19 of the Department of Agriculture. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:57 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1356.IS S1356 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS