Climate Agricultural Conservation Practices Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2757 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 APRIL 22, 2021 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 23:02 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2757.IH H2757 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2757 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 23:02 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2757.IH H2757 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2757 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 23:02 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2757.IH H2757 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS