I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5043 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 27, 2023 

Ms. SALINAS (for herself, Ms. BONAMICI, and Mr. CASTEN) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

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 2023’’. 


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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) PROVISION OF PAYMENTS.—The Secretary 

22 shall provide incentive payments under this sub23 section to producers to adopt practices designed to 

24 increase soil organic carbon levels. 


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

3 shall establish— 

4 ‘‘(A) payments to provide an incentive for 

5 the use of practices across a variety of geo6 graphic regions; 

7 ‘‘(B) regionally appropriate protocols for 

8 measuring soil organic carbon levels and soil 

9 microbiology levels before and after treatment 

10 under this subsection to measure gains in soil 

11 health as a result of the practices; and 

12 ‘‘(C) protocols and record keeping stand13 ards for in-field sampling to ensure consistency 

14 and the development of new carbon and eco15 system services markets. 

16 ‘‘(3) PRIORITY.—In providing incentive pay17 ments under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall give 

18 priority to providing the payments to— 

19 ‘‘(A) small producers, as determined by the 

20 Secretary; 

21 ‘‘(B) producers in rural areas, as deter22 mined by the Secretary; and 

23 ‘‘(C) socially disadvantaged farmers, as de24 termined by the Secretary. 

25 ‘‘(4) STUDY; REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 


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

2 the date of enactment of this subsection, and 

3 every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary shall 

4 conduct a study regarding changes in soil 

5 health and soil organic carbon levels as a result 

6 of the practices used under this subsection. 

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

8 than 2 years after the date of enactment of this 

9 subsection, and every 2 years thereafter, the 

10 Secretary shall submit to Congress a report de11 scribing and analyzing the results of the study 

12 conducted under subparagraph (A). 

13 ‘‘(C) INCLUSION.—The report under sub14 paragraph (B) shall include an analysis of— 

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

16 soil organic carbon levels; 

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

18 learned in carrying out this subsection can 

19 be transferred to other geographic regions; 

20 ‘‘(iii) further data required to sub21 stantiate the connection between soil or22 ganic carbon levels and crop yield and re23 siliency, if applicable; 

24 ‘‘(iv) the effect of multiple practices 

25 on soil organic carbon levels; 


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1 ‘‘(v) potential barriers to data collec2 tion across a variety of geographic regions; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(vi) carbon permanence and loss of 

5 any sequestered carbon, based on weather, 

6 management, and other relevant factors, 

7 and the depth of sequestered carbon.’’. 

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

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

10 amended by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(3) INCENTIVE PAYMENTS FOR SOIL HEALTH

12 PRACTICES AND CARBON SEQUESTRATION MONI13 TORING.—For each fiscal year for which funds are 

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

15 funds made available for payments under the pro16 gram, $100,000,000 shall be used to provide incen17 tive payments under subsection (k).’’. 

18 (c) PRIORITY FOR SOIL HEALTH AND CARBON SE19 QUESTRATION.—Section 1240B of the Food Security Act 

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

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

22 ‘‘(l) PRIORITY FOR SOIL HEALTH AND CARBON SE23 QUESTRATION.— 

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

25 feasible, the Secretary shall manage the program to 


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1 promote practices that enhance soil health and in2 crease soil organic carbon levels. 

3 ‘‘(2) SOIL HEALTH AND CARBON SEQUESTRA4 TION ON ELIGIBLE LAND.—The Secretary shall— 

5 ‘‘(A) develop ranking and scoring criteria 

6 under the program that prioritize soil health 

7 practices that score highest in soil carbon se8 questration on eligible land; and 

9 ‘‘(B) develop a soil organic carbon con10 servation activity plan under the program to 

11 measure and monitor sequestration and mitiga12 tion improvement levels from the practices de13 scribed in subparagraph (A), such as cover 

14 crops, crop rotation, and improved soil manage15 ment.’’. 

16 (d) STREAMLINING AND COORDINATION.—Section 

17 1240B of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 

18 3839aa–2) (as amended by subsection (c)) is amended by 

19 adding at the end the following: 

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

21 maximum extent feasible, the Secretary shall provide for 

22 streamlined and coordinated procedures for the program 

23 and the conservation stewardship program under sub24 chapter B, including applications, contracting, conservaVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Aug 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5043.IH H5043

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1 tion planning, conservation practices, and related adminis2 trative procedures.’’. 

3 (e) ON-FARM CONSERVATION INNOVATION

4 TRIALS.—Section 1240H(c) of the Food Security Act of 

5 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–8(c)) is amended— 

6 (1) in paragraph (2), in the matter preceding 

7 subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘2031’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘2023, and $100,000,000 of the funds made avail9 able to carry out this subchapter for each of fiscal 

10 years 2024 through 2031’’; and 

11 (2) in paragraph (7), in the matter preceding 

12 subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘including not less 

13 than 50 percent of the funds made available to carry 

14 out this subsection for each of fiscal years 2024 

15 through 2031,’’ after ‘‘subsection,’’. 

16 (f) SOIL HEALTH AND CARBON SCIENCE RESEARCH

17 PROGRAM AT AGRICULTURE RESEARCH STATIONS.—The 

18 Secretary of Agriculture shall establish a program— 

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

20 universities to conduct research relating to soil 

21 health and carbon science, including— 

22 (A) the effect of various practices on soil 

23 organic carbon levels; 


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1 (B) the extent to which the lessons learned 

2 from the effects described in subparagraph (A) 

3 can be transferred to other geographic regions; 

4 (C) the connection between soil organic 

5 carbon levels and crop yield and resiliency; 

6 (D) the effect of multiple practices on soil 

7 organic carbon levels; 

8 (E) potential barriers to soil health and 

9 carbon data collection across a variety of geo10 graphic regions; and 

11 (F) carbon permanence and loss of soil-se12 questered carbon, based on weather, manage13 ment, and other relevant factors, and the depth 

14 of sequestered carbon by different practices; 

15 and 

16 (2) to conduct research relating to soil health 

17 and carbon science at agriculture research stations 

18 of the Department of Agriculture. 

Æ 


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