I 

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. 

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 ‘‘Research to Reduce 

5 Agricultural Methane Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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•HR 9034 IH

1 (1) Greenhouse gasses, including carbon diox2 ide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gasses, 

3 are gasses that trap heat in the atmosphere. 

4 (2) Global climate change is widely attributed 

5 to increasing concentrations of greenhouse gasses in 

6 our atmosphere. 

7 (3) According to the Global Carbon Project, 

8 methane (CH4) is the second highest greenhouse gas 

9 contributing to human-induced climate change. 

10 Methane has a significantly larger global warming 

11 potential than carbon dioxide. 

12 (4) According to EPA’s 2018 Inventory of U.S. 

13 Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks, enteric fer14 mentation was the largest anthropogenic source of 

15 methane in the United States representing 28 per16 cent of domestic methane emissions. 

17 (5) Ruminants, hooved, four legged mammals 

18 that possess stomachs with four compartments, such 

19 as cattle, buffaloes, sheep and goats, produce meth20 ane through enteric fermentation, their normal di21 gestive process, and manure management and have 

22 the highest methane emissions per unit of body mass 

23 among all animal types. 

24 (6) Many factors influence methane emissions 

25 from livestock including, level of feed intake, type of 


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•HR 9034 IH

1 carbohydrate in the diet, feed processing, and 

2 changes in the animal’s microbiome. 

3 (7) Multiple peer review studies have indicated 

4 enormous methane mitigation potential of feed addi5 tives, including seaweed. 

6 (8) Farming practices, including methods to re7 duce methane emissions from livestock, hold enor8 mous potential to address climate change. 

9 (9) Farmers and growers are leading stewards 

10 of the land and are on the front lines experiencing 

11 the immediate impacts of climate change. 

12 SEC. 3. AGRICULTURAL CLIMATE ADAPTATION AND MITI13 GATION THROUGH THE AGRICULTURE AND 

14 FOOD RESEARCH INITIATIVE. 

15 Subsection (b)(2) of the Competitive, Special, and 

16 Facilities Grant Act (7 U.S.C. 3157(b)(2)) is amended by 

17 adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(G) AGRICULTURAL EMISSIONS MITIGA19 TION.—Agricultural climate adaptation and 

20 mitigation, including— 

21 ‘‘(i) methods to reduce methane emis22 sions from livestock production, includ23 ing— 


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•HR 9034 IH

1 ‘‘(I) feeds, feed additives, and 

2 feeding regimes, such as adding sea3 weed to diet; 

4 ‘‘(II) changes in grain-to-forage 

5 ratio; 

6 ‘‘(III) grinding and pelleting of 

7 feed; 

8 ‘‘(IV) the use of enzymes; and 

9 ‘‘(V) other methods and prod10 ucts; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) new technologies to measure and 

12 verify environmentally beneficial outcomes 

13 of emission mitigation efforts.’’. 

Æ 


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