Bill Summary
This bill, known as the "Research to Reduce Agricultural Methane Act," aims to amend the Competitive, Special, and Facilities Grant Act to prioritize agricultural climate adaptation and mitigation under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative. The bill recognizes the impact of greenhouse gases on climate change and specifically targets methane emissions from livestock production, which is a significant contributor to methane in the atmosphere. The bill highlights the potential of farming practices and technologies, such as feed additives and new measurement tools, to reduce methane emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change.
Possible Impacts
1. Farmers and growers may be directly affected by this legislation if they are required to implement new methods and technologies to reduce methane emissions from their livestock production. This could potentially increase their costs and change their farming practices.
2. Consumers may also be affected by this legislation as it could result in changes to the feed and additives used in livestock production, potentially leading to changes in the quality and availability of certain food products.
3. The environment and climate may be indirectly affected by this legislation, as it aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from livestock production which can contribute to global climate change. This could have a long-term impact on the planet and its inhabitants.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9034 Introduced in House (IH)]
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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
addressed 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 mitigation 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 Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Research to Reduce Agricultural
Methane Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Greenhouse gasses, including carbon dioxide, methane,
nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gasses, are gasses that trap
heat in the atmosphere.
(2) Global climate change is widely attributed to
increasing concentrations of greenhouse gasses in our
atmosphere.
(3) According to the Global Carbon Project, methane (CH4)
is the second highest greenhouse gas contributing to human-
induced climate change. Methane has a significantly larger
global warming potential than carbon dioxide.
(4) According to EPA's 2018 Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse
Gas Emissions and Sinks, enteric fermentation was the largest
anthropogenic source of methane in the United States
representing 28 percent of domestic methane emissions.
(5) Ruminants, hooved, four legged mammals that possess
stomachs with four compartments, such as cattle, buffaloes,
sheep and goats, produce methane through enteric fermentation,
their normal digestive process, and manure management and have
the highest methane emissions per unit of body mass among all
animal types.
(6) Many factors influence methane emissions from livestock
including, level of feed intake, type of carbohydrate in the
diet, feed processing, and changes in the animal's microbiome.
(7) Multiple peer review studies have indicated enormous
methane mitigation potential of feed additives, including
seaweed.
(8) Farming practices, including methods to reduce methane
emissions from livestock, hold enormous potential to address
climate change.
(9) Farmers and growers are leading stewards of the land
and are on the front lines experiencing the immediate impacts
of climate change.
SEC. 3. AGRICULTURAL CLIMATE ADAPTATION AND MITIGATION THROUGH THE
AGRICULTURE AND FOOD RESEARCH INITIATIVE.
Subsection (b)(2) of the Competitive, Special, and Facilities Grant
Act (7 U.S.C. 3157(b)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``(G) Agricultural emissions mitigation.--
Agricultural climate adaptation and mitigation,
including--
``(i) methods to reduce methane emissions
from livestock production, including--
``(I) feeds, feed additives, and
feeding regimes, such as adding seaweed
to diet;
``(II) changes in grain-to-forage
ratio;
``(III) grinding and pelleting of
feed;
``(IV) the use of enzymes; and
``(V) other methods and products;
and
``(ii) new technologies to measure and
verify environmentally beneficial outcomes of
emission mitigation efforts.''.
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