CALL Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8910 To require a study of the barriers to conservation practice adoption on leased agricultural land, 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 a study of the barriers to conservation practice adoption on leased agricultural land, 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 ‘‘Conservation for Agri- 4 cultural Leased Land Act’’ or the ‘‘CALL Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) According to a 2016 study by the Economic 8 Research Service of the Department of Agriculture, 9 39 percent of agricultural land in the United States 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:15 Dec 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8910.IH H8910 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8910 IH is leased, including the majority (53 percent) of 1 cropland. 2 (2) The participation of landowners and tenants 3 in Federal, State, and local conservation programs, 4 and the adoption of conservation practices on land 5 that they own or manage, can be limited by a wide 6 range of factors that are not fully understood. 7 (3) Much of the limited information that is 8 known comes from the Tenure, Ownership, and 9 Transition of Agricultural Land (TOTAL) Survey 10 conducted by the National Agricultural Statistics 11 Service, in collaboration with the Economic Research 12 Service; regularly recurring data collection through 13 the TOTAL Survey and other Department of Agri- 14 culture reports is vital to understanding land tenure 15 trends, challenges, and opportunities. 16 (4) Some of the potential barriers to such par- 17 ticipation and adoption include the structure or term 18 of the lease or rental agreement, the level of inde- 19 pendence given to the operator, the awareness of the 20 landowner of both conservation practice and pro- 21 gram opportunities and the costs and benefits asso- 22 ciated with those opportunities, and other policy or 23 market factors. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:46 Dec 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8910.IH H8910 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8910 IH (5) The solutions to these issues are unlikely to 1 be ‘‘one size fits all’’ and must be better understood. 2 SEC. 3. STUDY. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry out a 4 study of the participation in conservation programs of, 5 and the adoption of conservation practices on, leased agri- 6 cultural land. 7 (b) COLLABORATION.—The study under this section 8 shall be carried out in collaboration with the Economic 9 Research Service. 10 (c) CONTENTS.—The study carried out under this 11 section shall include— 12 (1) a review of relevant existing research lit- 13 erature, including— 14 (A) the Tenure, Ownership, and Transition 15 of Agricultural Land (TOTAL) Survey con- 16 ducted by the National Agricultural Statistics 17 Service, in collaboration with the Economic Re- 18 search Service; and 19 (B) the report titled ‘‘Understanding and 20 Activating Non-Operating Landlords’’, pub- 21 lished by the American Farmland Trust in Sep- 22 tember, 2020; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:46 Dec 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8910.IH H8910 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8910 IH (2) identification and quantification of the var- 1 ious types and structures of current agricultural 2 land leasing relationships; 3 (3) research on the history, and estimation of 4 future trends, of agricultural land ownership; 5 (4) examination of what leasing models have 6 been effective in encouraging the adoption of con- 7 servation practices; 8 (5) consideration of regional variations; 9 (6) examination of existing Federal incentives 10 for adopting conservation practices, and the degree 11 to which such incentives are currently utilized with 12 respect to leased agricultural lands; 13 (7) research on State and local incentive pro- 14 grams that are encouraging conservation practice 15 adoption on leased agricultural lands; and 16 (8) research on the benefits of transitioning 17 from land leasing to land ownership on conservation 18 practice adoption and Federal conservation program 19 participation. 20 (d) CONSIDERATION.—The study under this section 21 shall be carried out with particular consideration of farm- 22 ers and ranchers who are people of color, including Black 23 and indigenous farmers and ranchers, and beginning 24 farmers and ranchers. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:46 Dec 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8910.IH H8910 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8910 IH (e) REPORT.—Not later than December 31, 2021, the 1 Secretary shall submit to Congress a report containing— 2 (1) the results of the study conducted under 3 this section; and 4 (2) recommendations, based on such study, for 5 addressing the barriers unique to various agricul- 6 tural land leasing relationships to adopting conserva- 7 tion practices on leased agricultural land, includ- 8 ing— 9 (A) recommendations that can be imple- 10 mented under existing statutory authorities; 11 (B) recommendations that would require 12 congressional authorization in order to be im- 13 plemented; and 14 (C) recommendations for outreach. 15 (f) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary may enter 16 into an agreement with a non-Federal entity (such as a 17 nonprofit entity or university), selected through an appli- 18 cation process, to carry out this section. 19 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 20 (1) LEASED AGRICULTURAL LAND.—The term 21 ‘‘leased agricultural land’’ means agricultural land 22 that is operated, under a lease or other rental agree- 23 ment, by a farmer or rancher who does not own the 24 land. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:46 Dec 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8910.IH H8910 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8910 IH (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 1 the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Na- 2 tional Agricultural Statistics Service. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:46 Dec 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8910.IH H8910 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS