Federal

Agriculture Resilience Act of 2023

Source: Congress.gov · 42,631 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (pollution that traps heat in the atmosphere) from agriculture and help farms adapt to climate change. The bill establishes national goals for reducing farm emissions by at least 50 percent by 2030 and reaching net zero emissions (meaning zero additional emissions added to the atmosphere) by 2040. The bill creates research programs, provides financial incentives for farmers adopting sustainable practices, and addresses food waste. ##

Who It Affects

- Farmers and ranchers - Forest landowners and agricultural landowners - Rural communities and small businesses - Rural low-income households and communities of color - Tribal and indigenous communities - Universities and research institutions - Agricultural producers and food system workers - The general public through food system changes ##

Key Provisions

- The Secretary of Agriculture must develop a comprehensive action plan within 18 months to achieve national greenhouse gas reduction goals, with public comment period and updates at least every two years (Sec. 102) - The federal government should triple public investment in agricultural research and extension by 2030 and quadruple it by 2040, focusing on climate adaptation, soil health, and sustainable farming methods (Sec. 101) - A national network of regional climate hubs must be established to provide farmers with science-based information and assistance to adapt to climate change (Sec. 202) - Farmers using soil health practices like cover crops and rotational grazing can receive premium discounts on crop insurance starting in 2024 (Sec. 301) - The Environmental Quality Incentives Program must provide funding to help farmers implement conservation practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and sequester carbon in soil (Sec. 302) - Federal funding of at least $75 million yearly must support development of public crop varieties and animal breeds adapted to climate change (Sec. 205) - Food labeling standards must be established to distinguish between quality dates and discard dates to reduce food waste (Sec. 702) ##

What Changes

If this bill becomes law, the agricultural sector will have legally established climate goals it must work toward. Farmers will have access to expanded federal programs offering financial support and technical assistance for adopting climate-friendly practices. Crop insurance will reward farmers who implement soil health practices with lower premiums. Federal research funding will increase significantly to develop new crops and farming methods suited to changing climates. Food companies will need to use standardized date labeling on products to help reduce food waste. The Department of Agriculture will create regional climate hubs to help farmers understand and respond to climate risks in their specific areas. ##

Important Definitions

- **Resilience**: With respect to an agricultural management system, the ability of that system to absorb and recover from climate and other disturbances, such that the system is not impacted by severe shocks (Sec. 203) - **Public cultivar**: A commercially available plant variety developed through a publicly funded breeding program that has been tested to show improved characteristics, where intellectual property rights (if any) are in the form of plant patents or plant variety protection, not utility patents (Sec. 205) - **Public animal breed**: An animal breed that is the commercially available end product of a publicly funded breeding program that has been sufficiently tested to demonstrate improved characteristics and stable performance (Sec. 205) - **Conventional breeding**: Development of a new variety of an organism through controlled mating and selection without use of transgenic methods (Sec. 205) - **Resource concern**: A natural resource condition of soil, water, air, plant, animal, or energy resource base that impairs the sustainability or intended uses of the resource (Sec. 302) ##

Effective Date

Not specified in bill text for most provisions. However, specific effective dates include: - Risk-reduction based crop insurance discounts effective beginning with the 2024 reinsurance year (Sec. 301) - Restrictions on crop production on native grassland effective the first day of the first reinsurance year beginning one year after enactment (Sec. 301) - The Secretary must finalize the action plan and begin implementation within 18 months of enactment (Sec. 102)

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1840 To address the impact of climate change on agriculture, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 28, 2023 Ms. PINGREE (for herself, Ms. KUSTER, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. SMITH of Wash- ington, Mr. CARSON, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Ms. STANSBURY, Mr. CON- NOLLY, Ms. NORTON, Mr. BEYER, Ms. STRICKLAND, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. LIEU, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. KHANNA, Ms. BROWNLEY, Ms. SCHRIER, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. POCAN, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. COHEN, Mr. KILMER, and Ms. PORTER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committees on Edu- cation and the Workforce, Energy and Commerce, House Administration, and Oversight and Accountability, for a period to be subsequently deter- mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To address the impact of climate change on agriculture, 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 ‘‘Agriculture Resilience Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:38 Apr 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1840.IH H1840 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 1840 IH (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 1 this Act is as follows: 2 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Definition of Secretary. TITLE I—NATIONAL GOALS Sec. 101. National goals. Sec. 102. Action plan. TITLE II—RESEARCH Sec. 201. Research, extension, and education purpose. Sec. 202. Regional hubs for risk adaptation and mitigation to climate change. Sec. 203. Sustainable agriculture research and education resilience initiative. Sec. 204. Long-Term Agroecosystem Research Network. Sec. 205. Public breed and cultivar research. Sec. 206. ARS Climate Scientist Career Development Program. Sec. 207. Agricultural Climate Adaptation and Mitigation through AFRI. Sec. 208. Specialty crop research initiative. Sec. 209. Integrated pest management. Sec. 210. Appropriate technology transfer for rural areas program. TITLE III—SOIL HEALTH Sec. 301. Crop insurance. Sec. 302. Environmental quality incentives program. Sec. 303. Conservation stewardship program. Sec. 304. State assistance for soil health. Sec. 305. Funding and administration. Sec. 306. Conservation compliance. Sec. 307. National and regional agroforestry centers. TITLE IV—FARMLAND PRESERVATION AND FARM VIABILITY Sec. 401. Local Agriculture Market Program. Sec. 402. National organic certification cost-share program. Sec. 403. Farmland Protection Policy Act. Sec. 404. Agricultural conservation easement program. TITLE V—PASTURE-BASED LIVESTOCK Sec. 501. Animal raising claims. Sec. 502. Processing resilience grant program. Sec. 503. Conservation of private grazing land. Sec. 504. Conservation reserve program. Sec. 505. Alternative manure management program. TITLE VI—ON-FARM RENEWABLE ENERGY Sec. 601. Rural Energy For America Program. Sec. 602. Agrivoltaic systems. Sec. 603. AgSTAR program. TITLE VII—FOOD LOSS AND WASTE VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:38 Apr 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H1840.IH H1840 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 1840 IH Subtitle A—Food Date Labeling Sec. 701. Definitions. Sec. 702. Quality dates and discard dates. Sec. 703. Misbranding. Sec. 704. Regulations. Sec. 705. Delayed applicability. Subtitle B—Other Provisions Sec. 711. Composting as conservation practice. Sec. 712. Amendments to Federal Food Donation Act. Sec. 713. Grants for composting and anaerobic digestion food waste-to-energy projects. Sec. 714. School food waste reduction grant program. Sec. 715. Support for national media campaigns to decrease incidence of food waste. Sec. 716. Food waste research program. SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF SECRETARY. 1 In this Act, the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Sec- 2 retary of Agriculture. 3 TITLE I—NATIONAL GOALS 4 SEC. 101. NATIONAL GOALS. 5 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the goals established 6 under this title is to prevent climate change from exceed- 7 ing 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming above preindustrial lev- 8 els through a national greenhouse gas emission reduction 9 effort. 10 (b) NATIONAL GOALS.—The national goals for the 11 agricultural sector shall be to achieve— 12 (1) not less than a 50-percent reduction in net 13 greenhouse gas emissions, as compared to those lev- 14 els during calendar year 2010, by not later than De- 15 cember 31, 2030; and 16 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:38 Apr 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1840.IH H1840 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 1840 IH (2) net zero emissions by not later than Decem- 1 ber 31, 2040. 2 (c) SUBGOALS.—To achieve the national goals de- 3 scribed in subsection (b), there are established the fol- 4 lowing subgoals: 5 (1) RESEARCH.—The total Federal investment 6 in public food and agriculture research and exten- 7 sion should— 8 (A) at a minimum, as compared to that 9 total Federal investment for fiscal year 2023— 10 (i) triple by not later than December 11 31, 2030; and 12 (ii) quadruple by not later than De- 13 cember 31, 2040; and 14 (B) strongly focus on climate change adap- 15 tation and mitigation, soil health and carbon se- 16 questration, nutrient and manure management 17 to curb nitrous oxide and methane emissions, 18 agroforestry, advanced grazing management 19 and crop-livestock integration, perennial pro- 20 duction systems, on-farm and food system en- 21 ergy efficiency and renewable energy produc- 22 tion, farmland preservation and viability, food 23 waste reduction, and any other related areas, as 24 determined by the Secretary. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:38 Apr 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1840.IH H1840 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 1840 IH (2) SOIL HEALTH.—The United States 1 should— 2 (A) immediately become a member of the 3 Partners Forum and the Consortium of the 4 4 per 1000 Initiative, hosted by the Consultative 5 Group for International Agricultural Research, 6 with the aim of increasing total soil carbon 7 stocks by 0.4 percent annually to reduce carbon 8 in the atmosphere, restore soil health and pro- 9 ductivity, and thereby improve food security; 10 (B) sufficiently expand adoption of soil 11 health systems and practices (including diverse 12 crop rotations, cover cropping, and conservation 13 tillage), perennial crop and grass-based live- 14 stock production systems, agroforestry, 15 composting, advanced nutrient budgeting and 16 biologically based nutrient management, ad- 17 vanced grazing management (including 18 silvopasture and management-intensive rota- 19 tional grazing), and integrated crop-livestock 20 systems— 21 (i) to reduce nitrous oxide emissions 22 from agricultural soils, as compared to 23 those levels during calendar year 2023— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:38 Apr 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1840.IH H1840 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 1840 IH (I) by 25 percent by not later 1 than December 31, 2030; and 2 (II) by 75 percent by not later 3 than December 31, 2040; 4 (ii) to increase soil carbon stocks by 5 0.4 percent annually on at least 50 percent 6 of agricultural land by not later than De- 7 cember 31, 2030; and 8 (iii) to meet or exceed the threshold 9 described in clause (ii) on all agricultural 10 land by not later than December 31, 2040; 11 (C) expand implementation of regionally 12 appropriate cover crops and other continual liv- 13 ing cover so that— 14 (i) at least 50 percent of cropland 15 acres include 1 or more cover crops or 16 other continual living cover in the rotations 17 of the cropland acres by not later than De- 18 cember 31, 2030; 19 (ii) at least 75 percent of cropland 20 acres include 1 or more cover crops or 21 other continual living cover in the rotations 22 of the cropland acres by not later than De- 23 cember 31, 2040; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:38 Apr 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1840.IH H1840 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 1840 IH (iii) cropland acres are covered by 1 crops (including forages and hay crops), 2 cover crops, or residue for an average of 3 75 percent of each calendar year by not 4 later than December 31, 2030; and 5 (iv) cropland acres are covered by 6 crops (including forages and hay crops), 7 cover crops, or residue for an average of 8 85 percent of each calendar year by not 9 later than December 31, 2040; and 10 (D) encourage conversion of at least— 11 (i) 15 percent of annual grain crop 12 acres, as in use on the date of enactment 13 of this Act, to agroforestry, perennial graz- 14 ing, perennial grain crops, or other peren- 15 nial production systems by not later than 16 December 31, 2030; and 17 (ii) 30 percent of annual grain crop 18 acres, as in use on the date of enactment 19 of this Act, to agroforestry, perennial graz- 20 ing, perennial grain crops, or other peren- 21 nial production systems by not later than 22 December 31, 2040. 23 (3) FARMLAND PRESERVATION.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:38 Apr 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1840.IH H1840 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 1840 IH (A) 2030 GOAL.—The rate of conversion of 1 agricultural land to development, and the rate 2 of conversion of grassland to cropping, should 3 be reduced by at least 80 percent, as compared 4 to those rates for calendar year 2023 by not 5 later than December 31, 2030. 6 (B) 2040 GOAL.—There should be no con- 7 version of agricultural land to development, or 8 grassland to cropping, by December 31, 2040. 9 (4) PASTURE-BASED LIVESTOCK.—The live- 10 stock sector should— 11 (A) establish advanced grazing manage- 12 ment, including management-intensive rota- 13 tional grazing, on at least— 14 (i) 50 percent of all grazing land by 15 not later than December 31, 2030; and 16 (ii) 100 percent of all grazing land by 17 not later than December 31, 2040; 18 (B)(i) reduce greenhouse gas emissions re- 19 lated to feeding of ruminants by at least— 20 (I) 1⁄3 by not later than December 31, 21 2030; and 22 (II) 1⁄2 by not later than December 23 31, 2040; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:38 Apr 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1840.IH H1840 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 1840 IH (ii) accomplish the reductions described in 1 clause (i) by— 2 (I) reducing nongrazing feeding of 3 ruminants; 4 (II) growing feed grains and forages 5 with soil health and nutrient management 6 practices that minimize net greenhouse gas 7 emissions from cropland; and 8 (III) designing livestock feed mixtures 9 and supplements to mitigate enteric meth- 10 ane emissions; 11 (C) re-integrate livestock and crop produc- 12 tion systems at farm, local, and regional levels 13 to facilitate environmentally sound management 14 and field application of manure and reduce the 15 need for long-term manure storage by increas- 16 ing acreage on individual farms under crop-live- 17 stock integrated management by at least— 18 (i) 100 percent as compared to cal- 19 endar year 2017 levels by not later than 20 December 31, 2030; and 21 (ii) 300 percent as compared to cal- 22 endar year 2017 levels by not later than 23 December 31, 2040; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:38 Apr 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1840.IH H1840 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 1840 IH (D) reduce greenhouse gas emissions re- 1 sulting from manure management by— 2 (i) immediately ceasing building any 3 new or expanded waste lagoons for con- 4 fined animal feeding operations; and 5 (ii) converting— 6 (I) by not later than December 7 31, 2030, at least 1⁄3 of wet manure 8 handling and storage to non-digester 9 dairy or livestock methane manage- 10 ment methods (as defined in section 11 1240T(a) of the Food Security Act of 12 1985); and 13 (II) by not later than December 14 31, 2040, at least 2⁄3 of wet manure 15 handling and storage to non-digester 16 dairy or livestock methane manage- 17 ment methods (as so defined). 18 (5) ON-FARM RENEWABLE ENERGY.—The agri- 19 cultural sector should— 20 (A) implement energy audits and energy 21 efficiency improvements on at least— 22 (i) 50 percent of farms by not later 23 than December 31, 2030; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:38 Apr 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1840.IH H1840 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •HR 1840 IH (ii) 100 percent of farms by not later 1 than December 31, 2040; 2 (B) expand on-farm clean renewable en- 3 ergy production to a level that is at least— 4 (i) double the 2017 level by not later 5 than December 31, 2030; and 6 (ii) triple the 2017 level by not later 7 than December 31, 2040; and 8 (C) install and manage on-farm renewable 9 energy infrastructure in a manner that does 10 not— 11 (i) compromise the climate resilience 12 and greenhouse gas mitigation goals of this 13 Act; or 14 (ii) adversely impact farmland, soil, 15 and water resources, or food production. 16 (6) FOOD LOSS AND WASTE.—Consistent with 17 the Food Waste Challenge launched by the Depart- 18 ment of Agriculture and the Environmental Protec- 19 tion Agency in June 2013, and the national food 20 loss and waste goal announced in September 2015, 21 the food and agricultural sector should commit to— 22 (A) at least a 50-percent reduction in food 23 loss and waste by not later than December 31, 24 2030; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:38 Apr 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1840.IH H1840 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •HR 1840 IH (B) at least a 75-percent reduction in food 1 loss and waste by not later than December 31, 2 2040; and 3 (C) in a manner consistent with the Food 4 Recovery Hierarchy established by the Environ- 5 mental Protection Agency, diverting from land- 6 fills through composting and other means at 7 least— 8 (i) 50 percent of unavoidable food 9 waste and food processing byproducts by 10 not later than December 31, 2030; and 11 (ii) 90 percent of unavoidable food 12 waste and food processing byproducts by 13 not later than December 31, 2040. 14 SEC. 102. ACTION PLAN. 15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall— 16 (1) develop a plan (referred to in this section as 17 the ‘‘plan’’), which may involve actions to be taken 18 by other Federal agencies, to make significant and 19 rapid progress to achieve the nationa [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]

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