Bill Summary
The Rural Forest Markets Act of 2020 is a bill that aims to help forest owners in rural areas of the United States by authorizing the Secretary of Agriculture to guarantee investments that will open new markets for them. This bill, also known as the "Rural Forest Market Investment Program", will provide support for eligible projects that promote sustainable forestry practices and enable private forest landowners to participate in markets for forest carbon or other environmental products. The program will be established by the Secretary and will consider ways to minimize disruptions to traditional forest product markets. Eligible projects must be developed by private or nonprofit organizations and must follow approved methodologies. If the project involves tree planting, it must be done in a way that does not harm biodiversity or the environment. The Secretary may guarantee up to $150 million for each investment vehicle under this program. Regulations for the program must be issued within 30 days of the bill's enactment and the program's authority will terminate on September 30, 2023.
Possible Impacts
1) If this legislation is passed, rural private forest landowners will have access to a program that guarantees investments in their sustainable forestry practices. This could benefit them by providing financial support for their projects and facilitating the sale of their credits in the voluntary carbon market or other environmental markets.
2) The Secretary of Agriculture will play a significant role in overseeing and implementing this program, which could affect their workload and responsibilities.
3) The authority provided by this section will only last until September 30, 2023, which means that the program and its benefits could potentially only be available for a limited time. This could affect the long-term planning and decisions of rural private forest landowners who may have been relying on this program for their sustainable forestry practices.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4451 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4451
To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to guarantee investments that
will open new markets for forest owners in rural areas of the United
States, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
August 5, 2020
Ms. Stabenow (for herself and Mr. Braun) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture,
Nutrition, and Forestry
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to guarantee investments that
will open new markets for forest owners in rural areas of the United
States, 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 ``Rural Forest Markets Act of 2020''.
SEC. 2. RURAL FOREST MARKET INVESTMENT PROGRAM.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Rural.--The term ``rural'' has the meaning given the
term in section 343 of the Consolidated Farm and Rural
Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1991).
(2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Agriculture.
(b) Establishment of Program.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary shall establish a program,
to be known as the ``Rural Forest Market Investment Program'',
to guarantee an environmental impact bond, loan, or other
investment vehicle, as determined by the Secretary, issued for
the sole purpose of financing eligible projects described in
subsection (c), to enable rural private forest landowners to
participate in an innovative market for forest carbon or other
products.
(2) Consideration.--In establishing the program under
paragraph (1), the Secretary may consider ways to ensure that
the program minimizes, to the extent practicable, disruptions
to traditional forest products markets.
(c) Eligible Projects.--An eligible project referred to in
subsection (b)(1) is a project developed by private entity, or a
publicly supported, charitable nonprofit organization, engaged in the
aggregation of sustainable forestry practices implemented by rural
private forest landowners to facilitate the sale of credits in the
voluntary carbon market or other environmental market, using a
methodology approved by a credible, third-party entity, as determined
by the Secretary.
(d) Requirements.--A project described in subsection (c) that
includes the practice of tree planting may only be carried out, as
determined by the Secretary--
(1) on land that was historically forested;
(2) using tree species that are native to the region and at
ecologically appropriate densities; and
(3) in a manner that does not create other negative impacts
to biodiversity or the environment.
(e) Guarantee Amount.--The Secretary may guarantee not more than
$150,000,000 with respect to each bond, loan, or other investment
vehicle under subsection (b)(1).
(f) Regulations.--Not later than 30 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue regulations to
implement the program established under subsection (b)(1).
(g) Termination of Authority.--The authority provided by this
section terminates on September 30, 2023.
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