Title: COVER Act
Policy area: Agriculture and Food

Summary:
Conservation for Very Erodible Row Cropland Act of 2018 or the COVER Act
This bill amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to modify Department of Agriculture (USDA) conservation programs to authorize additional assistance for farm practices related to soil health and carbon storage.
The bill modifies the Environmental Quality Incentives Program to require USDA to provide payments under the program for practices that:
The bill modifies the Conservation Innovation Grants program to establish a pilot program to provide payments to encourage: (1) the measurement of outcomes relating to the planting of a regionally appropriate cover crop, and (2) opportunities to increase farm income. In carrying out the program, USDA must prioritize certain projects with third-party partners such as academic entities, carbon offset protocol developers, livestock producers, and food manufacturers.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2989 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2989

 To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to encourage soil health, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              June 5, 2018

  Mr. Bennet 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 encourage soil health, and 
                          for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Conservation for Very Erodible Row 
Cropland Act of 2018'' or the ``COVER Act''.

SEC. 2. SOIL HEALTH INITIATIVE.

    Section 1240B of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa-2) 
is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(j) Soil Health Initiative.--
            ``(1) Definition of cover crop.--In this subsection, the 
        term `cover crop' means a grass, legume, or forb that is 
        planted for seasonal vegetative cover.
            ``(2) Soil health initiative.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall provide 
                payments under the program for practices that--
                            ``(i) improve soil health;
                            ``(ii) enhance the ability of a farmer to 
                        absorb and recover from shocks and stresses to 
                        production;
                            ``(iii) increase the storage of carbon on 
                        agricultural land; and
                            ``(iv) achieve other conservation outcomes, 
                        as determined by the Secretary.
                    ``(B) Diversity.--The Secretary shall ensure that 
                producers receiving payments for practices described in 
                clauses (i) through (iv) of subparagraph (A) are 
                located in areas that reflect diverse conditions with 
                respect to region, water quantity, and agricultural 
                practice.
            ``(3) Soil health practices.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Practices that improve soil 
                health under paragraph (2)(A)(i) shall--
                            ``(i) reflect regional soil and climate 
                        conditions; and
                            ``(ii) include--
                                    ``(I) any practice that improves 
                                soil health, as determined by the 
                                Secretary; and
                                    ``(II) not fewer than two of the 
                                practices described in subparagraph 
                                (B).
                    ``(B) Practices described.--The practices referred 
                to in subparagraph (A)(ii)(II) are the following:
                            ``(i) The planting of a regionally 
                        appropriate cover crop.
                            ``(ii) No-till or reduced-till agriculture.
                            ``(iii) Resource-conserving crop rotation.
                            ``(iv) The use of organic soil amendments, 
                        including compost, biochar, and digestate.
                            ``(v) The integration of livestock 
                        grazing.''.

SEC. 3. COVER CROP PILOT PROGRAM.

    Section 1240H of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa-8) 
is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (d); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the following:
    ``(c) Cover Crop Pilot Program.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall establish a pilot 
        program to provide payments under this subsection to producers 
        to encourage--
                    ``(A) the measurement of outcomes relating to the 
                planting of a regionally appropriate cover crop; and
                    ``(B) opportunities to increase farm income.
            ``(2) Third-party partners.--In carrying out the pilot 
        program under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall give priority 
        to producers that partner with--
                    ``(A) academic entities to study the impact of soil 
                carbon sequestration on soil health and farm 
                productivity;
                    ``(B) carbon offset protocol developers to develop 
                quantification methodologies for carbon offset 
                protocols;
                    ``(C) livestock producers to integrate grazing 
                where regionally appropriate; or
                    ``(D) food manufacturers--
                            ``(i) to enter into supply agreements for 
                        food produced under the pilot program; and
                            ``(ii) to develop marketing products 
                        relating to the soil health benefits of that 
                        food.
            ``(3) Diversity.--The Secretary shall ensure that producers 
        receiving payments under paragraph (1)--
                    ``(A) are located in areas that reflect diverse 
                conditions with respect to region, water quantity, and 
                agricultural practice; and
                    ``(B) plant regionally appropriate cover crops that 
                enhance nutrient cycling and the capacity of soil to 
                hold water.
            ``(4) Funding.--Of the funds made available to carry out 
        this chapter, the Secretary shall use to carry out this 
        subsection $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 
        2023.''.
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