Climate Agricultural Conservation Practices Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8909 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 DECEMBER 9, 2020 Ms. BROWNLEY of California 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 05:46 Dec 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8909.IH H8909 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8909 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) by amending subparagraph (A) to read 6 as follows: 7 ‘‘(A) not later than 4 years after the date 8 of enactment of the Climate Agricultural Con- 9 servation Practices Act, and every 4 years 10 thereafter, complete a review of each conserva- 11 tion practice standard, including engineering 12 design specifications, in effect on the first day 13 of the 4-year period covered by such review;’’; 14 (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘; 15 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 16 (C) in subparagraph (D), by striking the 17 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 18 (D) by adding at the end the following: 19 ‘‘(E) evaluate the climate benefits of the 20 standards.’’; 21 (2) in paragraph (3)(B), by striking ‘‘conserva- 22 tion innovations and’’ and inserting ‘‘climate bene- 23 fits, conservation innovations, and’’; and 24 (3) by adding at the end the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:46 Dec 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8909.IH H8909 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8909 IH ‘‘(5) CLIMATE BENEFIT DEFINED.—In this sub- 1 section, the term ‘climate benefit’ means— 2 ‘‘(A) a reduction in agricultural green- 3 house gas emissions; 4 ‘‘(B) an increase in carbon sequestration; 5 or 6 ‘‘(C) mitigation against, or adaptation to, 7 increased weather volatility.’’. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:46 Dec 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8909.IH H8909 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS