I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2456 

To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to provide for the establishment 

of climate change mitigation bundles, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 12, 2021 

Ms. UNDERWOOD (for herself and Mr. GALLAGHER) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to provide for 

the establishment of climate change mitigation bundles, 

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 ‘‘Farmers Fighting Cli5 mate Change Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION BUNDLES. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 1240I(2)(B)(v) of the 

8 Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa– 

9 21(2)(B)(v)) is amended by inserting ‘‘climate change 

10 and’’ before ‘‘increasing weather volatility’’. 


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1 (b) RANKING OF APPLICATIONS.—Section 

2 1240K(b)(1)(A) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 

3 U.S.C. 3839aa–23(b)(1)(A)) is amended— 

4 (1) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and in5 serting a semicolon; 

6 (2) by redesignating clause (iii) as clause (iv); 

7 and 

8 (3) by inserting after clause (ii) the following: 

9 ‘‘(iii) the degree to which the com10 bination of the benefits described in 

11 clauses (i) and (ii) effectively target in12 creases in carbon sequestration or net re13 ductions in greenhouse gas emissions; 

14 and’’. 

15 (c) IN GENERAL.—Section 1240L of the Food Secu16 rity Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–24) is amended by 

17 adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(m) ESTABLISHMENT OF CLIMATE CHANGE MITI19 GATION BUNDLES.— 

20 ‘‘(1) AVAILABILITY.—In entering into conserva21 tion stewardship contracts under section 1240K, the 

22 Secretary shall make State- or region-specific cli23 mate change mitigation bundles available to pro24 ducers in all regions of the country, including by 

25 making available climate change mitigation bundles 


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1 appropriate to cropland, pastureland, rangeland, and 

2 forest land. 

3 ‘‘(2) FLEXIBILITY.—In designing climate 

4 change mitigation bundles under this subsection, the 

5 Secretary shall, to the maximum extent practicable, 

6 allow producers to select from among conservation 

7 activities meeting the requirements of paragraph 

8 (3)(A) in order to tailor a climate change mitigation 

9 bundle to the site-specific needs of the producer. 

10 ‘‘(3) CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION BUNDLE

11 DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘climate 

12 change mitigation bundle’ means a grouping of con13 servation activities determined by the Secretary, 

14 based on the best available science, to achieve sub15 stantial progress, when carried out together, to16 ward— 

17 ‘‘(A) providing a net reduction of green18 house gas emissions; or 

19 ‘‘(B) increasing carbon sequestration and 

20 improving soil health.’’. 

21 (d) REPORT.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 

23 the first date on which climate change bundles are 

24 made available to producers pursuant to section 

25 1240L(m) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (as 


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1 added by this Act), the Secretary of Agriculture 

2 shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture of the 

3 House of Representatives and the Committee on Ag4 riculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a 

5 report on the activities carried out under such sec6 tion. 

7 (2) CONTENTS.—The Secretary shall include in 

8 the report submitted under paragraph (1)— 

9 (A) a summary of feedback, from pro10 ducers that have adopted climate change miti11 gation bundles pursuant to such section 

12 1240L(m), regarding barriers to adoption of 

13 such bundles, the makeup of such bundles, pay14 ment rates for such bundles, technical assist15 ance relating to such bundles, and other rel16 evant information; 

17 (B) data on such producers, disaggregated 

18 by gender, race, age, and congressional district; 

19 (C) an assessment of barriers to the adop20 tion by producers of climate change mitigation 

21 bundles, as identified by the Secretary; and 

22 (D) recommendations on steps to increase 

23 the adoption of climate change mitigation bun24 dles by producers, including recommendations 


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1 for any statutory changes necessary to imple2 ment such steps. 

Æ 


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