II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1576 

To require the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a carbon incentives 

program to achieve supplemental greenhouse gas emission reductions 

on private forest land of the United States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 4, 2009 

Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself, Ms. SNOWE, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. 

MERKLEY, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. LEAHY, and Mr. SCHUMER) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a carbon 

incentives program to achieve supplemental greenhouse 

gas emission reductions on private forest land of the 

United States, 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 ‘‘Forest Carbon Incen5 tives Program Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CARBON INCENTIVES PROGRAM TO ACHIEVE SUP2 PLEMENTAL GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSION 

3 REDUCTIONS ON PRIVATE FOREST LAND. 

4 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

5 (1) AVOIDED DEFORESTATION AGREEMENT.— 

6 The term ‘‘avoided deforestation agreement’’ means 

7 a permanent conservation easement that— 

8 (A) covers eligible land that— 

9 (i) is enrolled under a climate mitiga10 tion contract; and 

11 (ii) will not be converted for develop12 ment; and 

13 (B) is consistent with the guidelines for— 

14 (i) the Forest Legacy Program estab15 lished under section 7 of the Cooperative 

16 Forestry Assistance Act (16 U.S.C. 

17 2103c); or 

18 (ii) any other program approved by 

19 the Secretary for use under this section to 

20 provide consistency with Federal legal re21 quirements for permanent conservation 

22 easements. 

23 (2) CLIMATE MITIGATION CONTRACT; CON24 TRACT.—The term ‘‘climate mitigation contract’’ or 

25 ‘‘contract’’ means a contract of not less than 15 

26 years that specifies— 


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1 (A) the eligible practices that will be un2 dertaken; 

3 (B) the acreage of eligible land on which 

4 the practices will be undertaken; 

5 (C) the agreed rate of compensation per 

6 acre; and 

7 (D) a schedule to verify that the terms of 

8 the contract have been fulfilled. 

9 (3) ELIGIBLE LAND.—The term ‘‘eligible land’’ 

10 means forest land in the United States that is pri11 vately owned at the time of initiation of a climate 

12 mitigation contract. 

13 (4) ELIGIBLE PRACTICE.—The term ‘‘eligible 

14 practice’’ means a forestry practice, including im15 proved forest management that produces marketable 

16 forest products, that is determined by the Secretary 

17 to provide measurable increases in carbon sequestra18 tion and storage beyond customary practices on 

19 comparable land. 

20 (5) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 

21 the carbon incentives program established under this 

22 section. 

23 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

24 the Secretary of Agriculture. 


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1 (b) SUPPLEMENTAL GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSION

2 REDUCTIONS IN THE UNITED STATES.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 

4 a carbon incentives program to achieve supplemental 

5 greenhouse gas emission reductions on private forest 

6 land of the United States. 

7 (2) FINANCIAL INCENTIVE PAYMENTS.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

9 provide to owners of eligible land financial in10 centive payments for— 

11 (i) eligible practices that measurably 

12 increase carbon sequestration and storage 

13 over a designated period on eligible land, 

14 as specified through a climate mitigation 

15 contract; and 

16 (ii) subject to subparagraph (B), per17 manent avoided deforestation agreements 

18 on eligible land covered under a climate 

19 mitigation contract. 

20 (B) NO AGREEMENT REQUIRED.—Eligi21 bility for financial incentive payments under a 

22 climate mitigation contract described in sub23 paragraph (A)(i) shall not require an avoided 

24 deforestation agreement. 


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1 (c) PERFORMANCE OF SUPPLEMENTAL REDUC2 TIONS.—In carrying out the program, the Secretary shall 

3 report under subsection (f) on progress toward reaching 

4 the following levels of carbon sequestration and storage 

5 through climate mitigation contracts: 

6 (1) 100,000,000 tons of carbon reductions by 

7 2020. 

8 (2) 200,000,000 tons of further carbon reduc9 tions by 2030. 

10 (d) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.— 

11 (1) CONTRACT REQUIRED.—To participate in 

12 the program, an owner of eligible land shall enter 

13 into a climate mitigation contract with the Sec14 retary. 

15 (2) PROGRAM COMPONENTS.—In establishing 

16 the program, the Secretary shall provide that— 

17 (A) funds provided under this section shall 

18 not be substituted for, or otherwise used as a 

19 basis for reducing, funding authorized or appro20 priated under other programs to compensate 

21 owners of eligible land for activities that are not 

22 covered under a climate mitigation contract; 

23 (B) emission reductions or sequestration 

24 achieved through a climate mitigation contract 


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1 shall not be eligible for crediting under any fed2 erally established carbon offset program; and 

3 (C) compensation for activities under this 

4 program shall be set at such a rate so as not 

5 to exceed the net estimated benefit an owner of 

6 eligible land would receive for similar practices 

7 under any federally established carbon offset 

8 program, taking into consideration the costs as9 sociated with the issuance of credits and com10 pliance with reversal provisions. 

11 (3) REVERSALS.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—In developing regula13 tions for climate mitigation contracts, the Sec14 retary shall specify requirements in accordance 

15 with this paragraph to address intentional or 

16 unintentional reversal of carbon sequestration 

17 during the contract period. 

18 (B) INTENTIONAL REVERSALS.—If the 

19 Secretary finds an owner of eligible land vio20 lated a climate mitigation contract by inten21 tionally reversing a practice or otherwise inten22 tionally failing to comply with the contract, the 

23 Secretary shall terminate the contract and re24 quire the owner to repay any contract payments 


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1 in an amount that reflects the lost carbon se2 questration. 

3 (C) UNINTENTIONAL REVERSAL.—If the 

4 Secretary finds an eligible practice has been un5 intentionally reversed due to events outside the 

6 control of the owner of eligible land, the Sec7 retary shall reevaluate and may modify or ter8 minate the climate mitigation contract, after 

9 consultation with the owner, taking into consid10 eration lost carbon sequestration and the future 

11 carbon sequestration potential of the contract. 

12 (e) INCENTIVE PAYMENTS.— 

13 (1) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year after 

14 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

15 shall issue regulations that specify eligible practices 

16 and related compensation rates, standards, and 

17 guidelines as the basis for entering into climate miti18 gation contracts with owners of eligible land. 

19 (2) SET-ASIDE OF FUNDS FOR CERTAIN PUR20 POSES.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not less than 35 per22 cent of program funds made available under 

23 this program for a fiscal year shall be used— 

24 (i) to provide additional incentives for 

25 owners of eligible land that carry out acVerDate Nov 24 2008 05:11 Aug 05, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1576.IS S1576

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1 tivities and enter into agreements that pro2 tect carbon reductions and otherwise en3 hance environmental benefits achieved 

4 under a climate mitigation contract; and 

5 (ii) to develop forest carbon moni6 toring and methodologies that will improve 

7 the tracking of carbon gains achieved 

8 under the program. 

9 (B) USE.—Of the amount of program 

10 funds made available for a fiscal year, the Sec11 retary shall use— 

12 (i) at least 25 percent to make funds 

13 available on a competitive basis to com14 pensate owners for entering avoided defor15 estation agreements on land subject to a 

16 climate mitigation contract; 

17 (ii) not more than 10 percent to pro18 vide incentive payments for additional 

19 management activities that increase the 

20 adaptive capacity of land under a climate 

21 mitigation contract; and 

22 (iii) not more than 2 percent for the 

23 Forest Inventory and Analysis Program of 

24 the Forest Service to develop improved 


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1 measurement and monitoring of forest car2 bon stocks. 

3 (f) PROGRAM MEASUREMENT, MONITORING, 

4 VERIFICATION, AND REPORTING.— 

5 (1) MEASUREMENT, MONITORING, AND

6 VERIFICATION.—The Secretary shall establish and 

7 implement protocols that provide monitoring and 

8 verification of compliance with climate mitigation 

9 contracts, including both direct and indirect effects 

10 and any reversal of sequestration. 

11 (2) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—At least annu12 ally, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report 

13 that contains— 

14 (A) an estimate of annual and cumulative 

15 reductions achieved as a result of the program, 

16 determined using standardized measures, in17 cluding measures of economic efficiency; and 

18 (B) a summary of any changes to the pro19 gram that will be made as a result of program 

20 measurement, monitoring, and verification. 

21 (3) AVAILABILITY OF REPORT.—Each report 

22 required by this subsection shall be available to the 

23 public through the website of the Department of Ag24 riculture. 


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1 (4) PROGRAM ADJUSTMENTS.—At least once 

2 every 2 years the Secretary shall adjust eligible prac3 tices and compensation rates for future climate miti4 gation contracts based on the results of monitoring 

5 under paragraph (1) and reporting under paragraph 

6 (2). 

7 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

8 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

9 such sums as are necessary. 

Æ 


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