II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4850 

To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to create permanent payments 

within the environmental quality incentives program for soil health practices and carbon sequestration monitoring, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 23 (legislative day, OCTOBER 19), 2020 

Mr. WYDEN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to create permanent payments within the environmental quality incentives program for soil health practices and carbon sequestration monitoring, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Healthy Soils Healthy 

5 Climate Act of 2020’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE FOOD SECURITY ACT OF 

2 1985. 

3 (a) INCREASED PAYMENTS FOR HIGH-PRIORITY

4 PRACTICES.—Section 1240B(d)(7)(A) of the Food Secu5 rity Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–2(d)(7)(A)) is amend6 ed— 

7 (1) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end; 

8 (2) in clause (iv), by striking the period at the 

9 end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

10 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(v) increases soil organic carbon lev12 els.’’. 

13 (b) INCENTIVE PAYMENTS FOR SOIL HEALTH PRAC14 TICES AND CARBON SEQUESTRATION MONITORING.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1240B of the Food 

16 Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–2) is 

17 amended by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(k) INCENTIVE PAYMENTS FOR SOIL HEALTH

19 PRACTICES AND CARBON SEQUESTRATION MONI20 TORING.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide 

22 incentive payments to producers to adopt practices 

23 designed to improve soil health through increasing 

24 carbon levels in soil (referred to in this section as 

25 ‘soil organic carbon levels’). 


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1 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—In providing the incen2 tive payments under paragraph (1), the Secretary 

3 shall— 

4 ‘‘(A) establish payments to provide an in5 centive for the use of practices across a variety 

6 of geographic regions that— 

7 ‘‘(i) improve soil health; 

8 ‘‘(ii) sequester carbon in the soil; or 

9 ‘‘(iii) meet the goals described in 

10 clauses (i) and (ii); and 

11 ‘‘(B) establish protocols for measuring soil 

12 organic carbon levels before and after treatment 

13 under this subsection to measure gains in soil 

14 health as a result of the practices. 

15 ‘‘(3) STUDY; REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

16 ‘‘(A) STUDY.—Not later than 2 years after 

17 the date of enactment of this subsection, and 

18 every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary shall 

19 conduct a study regarding changes in soil 

20 health and soil organic carbon levels as a result 

21 of the practices used under this subsection. 

22 ‘‘(B) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later 

23 than 2 years after the date of enactment of this 

24 subsection, and every 2 years thereafter, the 

25 Secretary shall submit to Congress a report deVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Oct 30, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4850.IS S4850

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1 scribing and analyzing the results of the study 

2 conducted under subparagraph (A). 

3 ‘‘(C) INCLUSION.—The report under sub4 paragraph (B) shall include an analysis of— 

5 ‘‘(i) the effect of various practices on 

6 soil organic carbon levels; 

7 ‘‘(ii) the extent to which the lessons 

8 learned in carrying out this subsection can 

9 be transferred to other geographic regions; 

10 ‘‘(iii) further data required to sub11 stantiate the connection between soil or12 ganic carbon levels and crop yield and re13 siliency, if applicable; 

14 ‘‘(iv) the effect of multiple practices 

15 on soil organic carbon levels; and 

16 ‘‘(v) potential barriers to data collec17 tion across a variety of geographic re18 gions.’’. 

19 (2) FUNDING.—Section 1240B(f) of the Food 

20 Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–2(f)) is 

21 amended by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(3) INCENTIVE PAYMENTS FOR SOIL HEALTH

23 PRACTICES AND CARBON SEQUESTRATION MONI24 TORING.—For each fiscal year for which funds are 

25 made available under section 1241(a)(3)(A), of the 


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1 funds made available for payments under the pro2 gram, $100,000,000 shall be used to provide incen3 tive payments under subsection (k).’’. 

4 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 

5 1240H of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 

6 3839aa–8) is amended— 

7 (A) in subsection (c), by striking para8 graph (7); and 

9 (B) in subsection (d)(1)— 

10 (i) in subparagraph (B), by adding 

11 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

12 (ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

13 ‘‘; and’’ and inserting a period; and 

14 (iii) by striking subparagraph (D). 

15 (c) PRIORITY FOR SOIL HEALTH AND CARBON SE16 QUESTRATION.—Section 1240B of the Food Security Act 

17 of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–2) (as amended by subsection 

18 (b)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(l) PRIORITY FOR SOIL HEALTH AND CARBON SE20 QUESTRATION.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To the maximum extent 

22 feasible, the Secretary shall manage the program to 

23 promote practices at least 1 of the benefits of which 

24 is enhancement of soil health or increasing soil or25 ganic carbon levels. 


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1 ‘‘(2) SOIL HEALTH AND CARBON SEQUESTRA2 TION ON ELIGIBLE LAND.—The Secretary shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) develop ranking and scoring criteria 

4 under the program that prioritize practices that 

5 score highest in soil carbon sequestration on eli6 gible land; and 

7 ‘‘(B) develop a soil organic carbon con8 servation activity plan under the program to 

9 measure and monitor sequestration and mitiga10 tion improvement levels from the practices de11 scribed in subparagraph (A), such as cover 

12 crops, crop rotation, and improved soil manage13 ment.’’. 

14 (d) STREAMLINING AND COORDINATION.—Section 

15 1240B of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 

16 3839aa–2) (as amended by subsection (c)) is amended by 

17 adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(m) STREAMLINING AND COORDINATION.—To the 

19 maximum extent feasible, the Secretary shall provide for 

20 streamlined and coordinated procedures for the program 

21 and the conservation stewardship program under sub22 chapter B, including applications, contracting, conserva23 tion planning, conservation practices, and related adminis24 trative procedures.’’. 


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1 (e) SOIL HEALTH AND CARBON SCIENCE RESEARCH

2 PROGRAM AT AGRICULTURE RESEARCH STATIONS.—The 

3 Secretary of Agriculture shall establish a program— 

4 (1) to provide grants to land-grant colleges and 

5 universities to conduct research relating to soil 

6 health and carbon science; and 

7 (2) to conduct research relating to soil health 

8 and carbon science at agriculture research stations 

9 of the Department of Agriculture. 

Æ 


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