Bill Summary
This legislation, called the "Climate Agricultural Conservation Practices Act," aims to require the Natural Resources Conservation Service to regularly review national conservation practices, taking into consideration their potential climate benefits. This includes a review every four years and an evaluation of the standards' climate benefits. The bill also defines "climate benefit" as any reduction in agricultural greenhouse gas emissions, increase in carbon sequestration, or protection against extreme weather. This legislation highlights the importance of incorporating climate considerations into conservation practices.
Possible Impacts
1. Farmers may be required to change their current conservation practices in order to comply with the new standards, potentially affecting their operations and livelihoods.
2. The review of conservation practices could lead to increased costs for farmers, as they may need to invest in new equipment or techniques to meet the new standards.
3. The inclusion of climate benefits in the evaluation of conservation practices could lead to more sustainable and environmentally-friendly practices being adopted, potentially benefiting the overall health of the planet.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8909 Introduced in House (IH)]
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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 benefits, 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, taking into consideration
climate benefits, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Climate Agricultural Conservation
Practices Act''.
SEC. 2. CONSIDERATION OF CLIMATE BENEFITS IN CONSERVATION PRACTICE
STANDARDS.
Section 1242(h) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C.
3842(h)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1)--
(A) by amending subparagraph (A) to read as
follows:
``(A) not later than 4 years after the date of
enactment of the Climate Agricultural Conservation
Practices Act, and every 4 years thereafter, complete a
review of each conservation practice standard,
including engineering design specifications, in effect
on the first day of the 4-year period covered by such
review;'';
(B) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``; and'' and
inserting a semicolon;
(C) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period at
the end and inserting ``; and''; and
(D) by adding at the end the following:
``(E) evaluate the climate benefits of the
standards.'';
(2) in paragraph (3)(B), by striking ``conservation
innovations and'' and inserting ``climate benefits,
conservation innovations, and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(5) Climate benefit defined.--In this subsection, the
term `climate benefit' means--
``(A) a reduction in agricultural greenhouse gas
emissions;
``(B) an increase in carbon sequestration; or
``(C) mitigation against, or adaptation to,
increased weather volatility.''.
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