Research to Reduce Agricultural Methane Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 9034 To amend the Competitive, Special, and Facilities Grant Act to include agricultural climate adaptation and mitigation as a priority area ad- dressed by the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 18, 2020 Ms. SCHRIER (for herself and Mr. HUFFMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture A BILL To amend the Competitive, Special, and Facilities Grant Act to include agricultural climate adaptation and miti- gation as a priority area addressed by the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, 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 ‘‘Research to Reduce 4 Agricultural Methane Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress makes the following findings: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Jan 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9034.IH H9034 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 9034 IH (1) Greenhouse gasses, including carbon diox- 1 ide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gasses, 2 are gasses that trap heat in the atmosphere. 3 (2) Global climate change is widely attributed 4 to increasing concentrations of greenhouse gasses in 5 our atmosphere. 6 (3) According to the Global Carbon Project, 7 methane (CH4) is the second highest greenhouse gas 8 contributing to human-induced climate change. 9 Methane has a significantly larger global warming 10 potential than carbon dioxide. 11 (4) According to EPA’s 2018 Inventory of U.S. 12 Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks, enteric fer- 13 mentation was the largest anthropogenic source of 14 methane in the United States representing 28 per- 15 cent of domestic methane emissions. 16 (5) Ruminants, hooved, four legged mammals 17 that possess stomachs with four compartments, such 18 as cattle, buffaloes, sheep and goats, produce meth- 19 ane through enteric fermentation, their normal di- 20 gestive process, and manure management and have 21 the highest methane emissions per unit of body mass 22 among all animal types. 23 (6) Many factors influence methane emissions 24 from livestock including, level of feed intake, type of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Jan 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9034.IH H9034 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 9034 IH carbohydrate in the diet, feed processing, and 1 changes in the animal’s microbiome. 2 (7) Multiple peer review studies have indicated 3 enormous methane mitigation potential of feed addi- 4 tives, including seaweed. 5 (8) Farming practices, including methods to re- 6 duce methane emissions from livestock, hold enor- 7 mous potential to address climate change. 8 (9) Farmers and growers are leading stewards 9 of the land and are on the front lines experiencing 10 the immediate impacts of climate change. 11 SEC. 3. AGRICULTURAL CLIMATE ADAPTATION AND MITI- 12 GATION THROUGH THE AGRICULTURE AND 13 FOOD RESEARCH INITIATIVE. 14 Subsection (b)(2) of the Competitive, Special, and 15 Facilities Grant Act (7 U.S.C. 3157(b)(2)) is amended by 16 adding at the end the following: 17 ‘‘(G) AGRICULTURAL EMISSIONS MITIGA- 18 TION.—Agricultural climate adaptation and 19 mitigation, including— 20 ‘‘(i) methods to reduce methane emis- 21 sions from livestock production, includ- 22 ing— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Jan 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9034.IH H9034 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 9034 IH ‘‘(I) feeds, feed additives, and 1 feeding regimes, such as adding sea- 2 weed to diet; 3 ‘‘(II) changes in grain-to-forage 4 ratio; 5 ‘‘(III) grinding and pelleting of 6 feed; 7 ‘‘(IV) the use of enzymes; and 8 ‘‘(V) other methods and prod- 9 ucts; and 10 ‘‘(ii) new technologies to measure and 11 verify environmentally beneficial outcomes 12 of emission mitigation efforts.’’. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Jan 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H9034.IH H9034 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS