Title: Climate Agricultural Conservation Practices Act
Policy area: Agriculture and Food

Summary:
Climate Agricultural Conservation Practices Act
This bill requires the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the Department of Agriculture to review the national conservation practice standards, taking into consideration the climate benefits of such standards. Climate benefit is defined as a reduction in agricultural greenhouse gas emissions; an increase in carbon sequestration; or mitigation against, or adaptation to, increased weather volatility.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8909 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8909

  To require the Natural Resources Conservation Service to review the 
  national conservation practice standards, taking into consideration 
               climate benefits, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 9, 2020

  Ms. Brownley of California introduced the following bill; which was 
                referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To require the Natural Resources Conservation Service to review the 
  national conservation practice standards, taking into consideration 
               climate benefits, 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 ``Climate Agricultural Conservation 
Practices Act''.

SEC. 2. CONSIDERATION OF CLIMATE BENEFITS IN CONSERVATION PRACTICE 
              STANDARDS.

    Section 1242(h) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 
3842(h)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) by amending subparagraph (A) to read as 
                follows:
                    ``(A) not later than 4 years after the date of 
                enactment of the Climate Agricultural Conservation 
                Practices Act, and every 4 years thereafter, complete a 
                review of each conservation practice standard, 
                including engineering design specifications, in effect 
                on the first day of the 4-year period covered by such 
                review;'';
                    (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``; and'' and 
                inserting a semicolon;
                    (C) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period at 
                the end and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (D) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(E) evaluate the climate benefits of the 
                standards.'';
            (2) in paragraph (3)(B), by striking ``conservation 
        innovations and'' and inserting ``climate benefits, 
        conservation innovations, and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(5) Climate benefit defined.--In this subsection, the 
        term `climate benefit' means--
                    ``(A) a reduction in agricultural greenhouse gas 
                emissions;
                    ``(B) an increase in carbon sequestration; or
                    ``(C) mitigation against, or adaptation to, 
                increased weather volatility.''.
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