II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2452 To provide incentives for agricultural producers to carry out climate steward- ship practices, to provide for increased reforestation across the United States, to establish the Coastal and Estuary Resilience Grant Program, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 Mr. BOOKER (for himself, Mr. UDALL, and Mr. MERKLEY) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agri- culture, Nutrition, and Forestry A BILL To provide incentives for agricultural producers to carry out climate stewardship practices, to provide for increased reforestation across the United States, to establish the Coastal and Estuary Resilience Grant Program, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Climate Stewardship Act of 2019’’. 5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 6 this Act is as follows: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2452.IS S2452 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2452 IS Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. TITLE I—AGRICULTURE Sec. 101. Conservation reserve program. Sec. 102. Environmental Quality Incentives Program. Sec. 103. Conservation Stewardship Program. Sec. 104. Funding. Sec. 105. Regional Conservation Partnership Program. Sec. 106. Funding for climate stewardship agriculture research. Sec. 107. Conservation technical assistance. Sec. 108. Rural Energy for America Program. Sec. 109. Local Agriculture Market Program. Sec. 110. Farm and ranch stress assistance network. Sec. 111. Assistance for community food projects. TITLE II—FORESTS Sec. 201. Reforestation Trust Fund. Sec. 202. Reforest America Grant Program. Sec. 203. Urban wood programs. Sec. 204. Stewardship Corps. TITLE III—COASTAL WETLAND Sec. 301. Definitions. Sec. 302. Coastal and Estuary Resilience Grant Program. Sec. 303. Data collection. Sec. 304. Outreach and technical assistance. Sec. 305. Annual restoration and funding. Sec. 306. Prevailing wage requirement. Sec. 307. Department of the Interior coastal wetland restoration; funding. TITLE I—AGRICULTURE 1 SEC. 101. CONSERVATION RESERVE PROGRAM. 2 (a) CONSERVATION RESERVE.—Section 1231 of the 3 Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3831) is amend- 4 ed— 5 (1) in subsection (d)— 6 (A) in paragraph (1)— 7 (i) in subparagraph (B), by striking 8 ‘‘24,500,000’’ and inserting ‘‘26,000,000’’; 9 (ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 10 ‘‘25,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘28,000,000’’; 11 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2452.IS S2452 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2452 IS (iii) in subparagraph (D), by striking 1 ‘‘25,500,000 acres; and’’ and inserting 2 ‘‘30,500,000 acres;’’; 3 (iv) in subparagraph (E), by striking 4 ‘‘27,000,000 acres.’’ and inserting 5 ‘‘33,000,000 acres;’’; and 6 (v) by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(F) fiscal year 2024, not more than 8 34,000,000 acres; 9 ‘‘(G) fiscal year 2025, not more than 10 35,000,000 acres; 11 ‘‘(H) fiscal year 2026, not more than 12 36,000,000 acres; 13 ‘‘(I) fiscal year 2027, not more than 14 37,000,000 acres; 15 ‘‘(J) fiscal year 2028, not more than 16 38,000,000 acres; 17 ‘‘(K) fiscal year 2029, not more than 18 39,000,000 acres; and 19 ‘‘(L) fiscal year 2030 and each fiscal year 20 thereafter, not less than 40,000,000 acres.’’; 21 (B) in paragraph (2)(A)— 22 (i) in clause (i)— 23 (I) by striking ‘‘2,000,000’’ and 24 inserting ‘‘4,600,000’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2452.IS S2452 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2452 IS (II) by striking ‘‘2023’’ and in- 1 serting ‘‘2030’’; and 2 (ii) in clause (ii)— 3 (I) in subclause (II), by striking 4 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 5 (II) in subclause (III), by strik- 6 ing ‘‘through 2023, 2,000,000 acres.’’ 7 and inserting ‘‘and 2022, 2,000,000 8 acres;’’; and 9 (III) by adding at the end the 10 following: 11 ‘‘(IV) fiscal year 2023, 2,500,000 12 acres; 13 ‘‘(V) fiscal year 2024, 2,800,000 14 acres; 15 ‘‘(VI) fiscal year 2025, 3,100,000 16 acres; 17 ‘‘(VII) fiscal year 2026, 18 3,400,000 acres; 19 ‘‘(VIII) fiscal year 2027, 20 3,700,000 acres; 21 ‘‘(IX) fiscal year 2028, 22 4,000,000 acres; 23 ‘‘(X) fiscal year 2029, 4,300,000 24 acres; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2452.IS S2452 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2452 IS ‘‘(XI) fiscal year 2030 and each 1 fiscal year thereafter, not less than 2 4,600,000 acres.’’; and 3 (C) in paragraph (6)(B)— 4 (i) in clause (i)— 5 (I) by striking ‘‘8,600,000’’ and 6 inserting ‘‘17,700,000’’; and 7 (II) by striking ‘‘2023’’ and in- 8 serting ‘‘2030’’; and 9 (ii) in clause (ii)— 10 (I) in subclause (II), by striking 11 ‘‘8,250,000’’ and inserting 12 ‘‘9,000,000’’; 13 (II) in subclause (III), by strik- 14 ing ‘‘8,500,000 acres; and’’ and in- 15 serting ‘‘10,000,000 acres;’’; and 16 (III) by striking subclause (IV) 17 and inserting the following: 18 ‘‘(IV) fiscal year 2022, 19 12,000,000 acres; 20 ‘‘(V) fiscal year 2023, 21 13,500,000 acres; 22 ‘‘(VI) fiscal year 2024, 23 14,100,000 acres; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2452.IS S2452 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2452 IS ‘‘(VII) fiscal year 2025, 1 14,700,000 acres; 2 ‘‘(VIII) fiscal year 2026, 3 15,300,000 acres; 4 ‘‘(IX) fiscal year 2027, 5 15,900,000 acres; 6 ‘‘(X) fiscal year 2028, 7 16,500,000 acres; 8 ‘‘(XI) fiscal year 2029, 9 17,100,000 acres; and 10 ‘‘(XII) fiscal year 2030 and each 11 fiscal year thereafter, not less than 12 17,700,000 acres.’’; 13 (2) in subsection (e)(1), by striking ‘‘, nor more 14 than 15,’’; and 15 (3) in subsection (h)— 16 (A) by striking paragraph (2); and 17 (B) by striking ‘‘CONSIDERATION.—’’ in 18 the subsection heading and all that follows 19 through ‘‘On the’’ in paragraph (1) and insert- 20 ing ‘‘CONSIDERATION.—On the’’. 21 (b) CONSERVATION RESERVE ENHANCEMENT PRO- 22 GRAM.—Section 1231A(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Food Security 23 Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3831a(b)(2)(A)(i)) is amended by 24 inserting ‘‘, including reducing agricultural greenhouse 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2452.IS S2452 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2452 IS gas emissions or increasing carbon sequestration,’’ after 1 ‘‘concerns’’. 2 SEC. 102. ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY INCENTIVES PRO- 3 GRAM. 4 (a) PURPOSES.—Section 1240(3) of the Food Secu- 5 rity Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa(3)) is amended— 6 (1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 7 the end; 8 (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 9 the end; and 10 (3) by adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘(D) reducing agricultural greenhouse gas 12 emissions; 13 ‘‘(E) increasing carbon sequestration; and 14 ‘‘(F) adapting to, or mitigating against, in- 15 creasing weather volatility; and’’. 16 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 1240A of the Food Secu- 17 rity Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–1) is amended— 18 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through 19 (10) as paragraphs (2) through (11), respectively; 20 and 21 (2) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as so re- 22 designated) the following: 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2452.IS S2452 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2452 IS ‘‘(1) CLIMATE STEWARDSHIP PRACTICE.—The 1 term ‘climate stewardship practice’ means any of the 2 following practices: 3 ‘‘(A) Alley cropping. 4 ‘‘(B) Biochar incorporation. 5 ‘‘(C) Conservation cover. 6 ‘‘(D) Conservation crop rotation. 7 ‘‘(E) Contour buffer strips. 8 ‘‘(F) Contour farming. 9 ‘‘(G) Cover crops. 10 ‘‘(H) Critical area planting. 11 ‘‘(I) Cross wind trap strips. 12 ‘‘(J) Field borders. 13 ‘‘(K) Filter strips. 14 ‘‘(L) Forage and biomass planting, includ- 15 ing the use of native prairie and seed mixtures. 16 ‘‘(M) Forest stand improvements. 17 ‘‘(N) Grassed waterways. 18 ‘‘(O) Hedgerow planting. 19 ‘‘(P) Herbaceous wind barriers. 20 ‘‘(Q) Multistory cropping. 21 ‘‘(R) Nutrient management. 22 ‘‘(S) Prescribed grazing. 23 ‘‘(T) Range planting. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2452.IS S2452 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 9 •S 2452 IS ‘‘(U) Residue and tillage management with 1 no till. 2 ‘‘(V) Residue and tillage management with 3 reduced till. 4 ‘‘(W) Riparian forest buffers. 5 ‘‘(X) Riparian herbaceous buffers. 6 ‘‘(Y) Silvopasture establishment. 7 ‘‘(Z) Stripcropping. 8 ‘‘(AA) Tree and shrub establishment. 9 ‘‘(BB) Upland wildlife habitat. 10 ‘‘(CC) Vegetative barriers. 11 ‘‘(DD) Wetland restoration. 12 ‘‘(EE) Windbreak renovation. 13 ‘‘(FF) Windbreaks and shelterbelts. 14 ‘‘(GG) Woody residue treatment. 15 ‘‘(HH) Any other highly effective vegeta- 16 tive or management practice that significantly 17 reduces agricultural greenhouse gas emissions, 18 increases carbon sequestration, or assists pro- 19 ducers in adapting to, or mitigating against, in- 20 creasing weather volatility, as determined by 21 the Secretary.’’. 22 (c) ESTABLISHMENT AND ADMINISTRATION.—Sec- 23 tion 1240B of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 24 3839aa–2) is amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2452.IS S2452 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 10 •S 2452 IS (1) in subsection (d)(3)— 1 (A) in subparagraph (F), by striking ‘‘or’’ 2 at the end; 3 (B) in subparagraph (G), by striking the 4 period at the end and inserting a semicolon; 5 and 6 (C) by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(H) reductions in agricultural greenhouse 8 gas emissions; or 9 ‘‘(I) long-term carbon sequestration.’’; and 10 (2) in subsection (j)— 11 (A) in paragraph (2)— 12 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 13 (I) in clause (i)— 14 (aa) by striking ‘‘mainte- 15 nance of incentive practices’’ and 16 inserting the following: ‘‘mainte- 17 nance of— 18 ‘‘(I) incentive practices’’; and 19 (bb) in subclause (I) (as so 20 designated), by striking the pe- 21 riod at the end and inserting the 22 following: ‘‘; or 23 ‘‘(II) one or more climate stew- 24 ardship practices.’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2452.IS S2452 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 11 •S 2452 IS (II) in clause (ii)— 1 (aa) in subclause (I), by in- 2 serting ‘‘, or climate stewardship 3 practices to attain increased lev- 4 els of carbon sequestration and 5 reduced agricultural greenhouse 6 gas emissions,’’ after ‘‘conserva- 7 tion’’; and 8 (bb) in subclause (II), by in- 9 serting ‘‘or a climate stewardship 10 practice’’ after ‘‘incentive prac- 11 tice’’; and 12 (ii) in subparagraph (C)— 13 (I) by redesignating clauses (i) 14 and (ii) as subclauses (I) and (II), re- 15 spectively, and indenting appro- 16 priately; 17 (II) in the matter preceding sub- 18 clause (I) (as so redesignated), by 19 striking ‘‘Notwithstanding section 20 1240C’’ and inserting the following: 21 ‘‘(i) INCENTIVE PRACTICES.—Not- 22 withstanding section 1240C, in the case of 23 applications for contracts under subpara- 24 graph (A)(i)(I)’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2452.IS S2452 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 12 •S 2452 IS (III) by adding at the end the 1 following: 2 ‘‘(ii) CLIMATE STEWARDSHIP PRAC- 3 TICES.—Notwithstanding section 1240C, 4 in the case of applications for contracts 5 under subparagraph (A)(i)(II), the Sec- 6 retary shall give priority to applications 7 that contain the greatest number of cli- 8 mate stewardship practices.’’; and 9 (B) in paragraph (3)— 10 (i) in the paragraph heading, by in- 11 serting ‘‘AND CLIMATE STEWARDSHIP 12 PRACTICE’’ after ‘‘INCENTIVE PRACTICE’’; 13 (ii) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 14 ‘‘or climate stewardship practices’’ after 15 ‘‘incentive practices’’ each place it appears; 16 (iii) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 17 ‘‘or climate stewardship practice’’ after 18 ‘‘incentive practice’’ each place it appears; 19 and 20 (iv) in subparagraph (C)(ii), by insert- 21 ing ‘‘or a climate stewardship practice’’ 22 after ‘‘incentive practice’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2452.IS S2452 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 13 •S 2452 IS (d) LIMITATION ON PAYMENTS.—Section 1240G of 1 the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–7) is 2 amended— 3 (1) by striking ‘‘2018, or’’ and inserting 4 ‘‘2018,’’; and 5 (2) by inserting ‘‘the period of fiscal years 2024 6 through 2028, or the period of fiscal years 2029 7 through 2033,’’ before ‘‘regardless’’. 8 (e) CONSERVATION INNOVATION GRANTS AND PAY- 9 MENTS.—Section 1240H(c) of the Food Security Act of 10 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–8(c)) is amended— 11 (1) in paragraph (1)(B)(i)— 12 (A) in subclause (VI), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 13 the end; and 14 (B) by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(VIII) practices that signifi- 16 cantly increase carbon sequestration, 17 reduce agricultural greenhouse gas 18 emissions, or assist producers to 19 adapt to, or mitigate against, increas- 20 ing weather volatility; and’’; 21 (2) in paragraph (2), in the matter preceding 22 subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘each of fiscal years 23 2019 through 2023’’ and inserting ‘‘fiscal year 24 2019, and $200,000,000 of the funds of the Com- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2452.IS S2452 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 14 •S 2452 IS modity Credit Corporation for each of fiscal years 1 2020 through 2030’’; and 2 (3) in paragraph (7), in the matter preceding 3 subparagraph (A)— 4 (A) by inserting ‘‘not less than 5 $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 6 through 2030 of the’’ after ‘‘Using’’; and 7 (B) by striking ‘‘a soil’’ and inserting ‘‘an 8 ongoing soil’’. 9 SEC. 103. CONSERVATION STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM. 10 (a) SUPPLEMENTAL PAYMENTS FOR CLIMATE STEW- 11 ARDSHIP PRACTICES.—Section 1240L(d) of the Food Se- 12 curity Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–24(d)) is amend- 13 ed— 14 (1) in the subsection heading, by striking ‘‘RO- 15 TATIONS AND ADVANCED GRAZING MANAGEMENT’’ 16 and inserting ‘‘ROTATIONS, ADVANCED GRAZING 17 MANAGEMENT, AND CLI [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]