Agriculture Resilience Act

Bill: 117-hr-2803
Sponsor: Rep. Pingree, Chellie [D-ME-1]
Introduced: 2021-04-22 in the House
Policy area: Agriculture and Food
Subjects: Advisory bodies
Agricultural conservation and pollution
Agricultural education
Agricultural insurance
Agricultural marketing and promotion
Agricultural practices and innovations
Agricultural prices, subsidies, credit
Agricultural research
Air quality
Alternative and renewable resources
Animal protection and human-animal relationships
Climate change and greenhouse gases
Congressional oversight
Consumer affairs
Department of Agriculture
Ecology
Education programs funding
Electric power generation and transmission
Elementary and secondary education
Energy efficiency and conservation
Environmental assessment, monitoring, research
Executive agency funding and structure
Farmland
Food assistance and relief
Food industry and services
Food supply, safety, and labeling
Forests, forestry, trees
Government lending and loan guarantees
Government studies and investigations
Higher education
Horticulture and plants
Income tax credits
Income tax exclusion
Land use and conservation
Livestock
Meat
Medical research
Minority and disadvantaged businesses
Nutrition and diet
Public contracts and procurement
Research administration and funding
Rural conditions and development
Small business
Social work, volunteer service, charitable organizations
Solid waste and recycling
State and local government operations
Student aid and college costs
Veterans' education, employment, rehabilitation

Summary:
action_date: 2021-04-22
text: 

Agriculture Resilience Act

 
This bill establishes, expands, and revises multiple programs and activities of the Department of Agriculture (USDA) primarily to reduce carbon emissions from the agriculture sector.
 
Specifically, USDA must finalize and implement a plan to achieve net-zero emissions from the sector by 2040. USDA must periodically review and revise the plan, as necessary, and annually report on its implementation.
 
Additionally, the bill expands the scope of various USDA research, extension, and education programs; conservation programs; and livestock programs to incorporate climate change adaption and mitigation. Expanded activities include efforts to improve soil health and preserve farmland and grassland.
 
Further, the bill changes programs that support renewable energy in rural areas to address carbon emissions in the agriculture sector. Among these changes, the bill provides statutory authority for a program for reducing methane emissions from livestock waste that is carried out by the Environmental Protection Agency and transitions the program to USDA.
 
The bill also addresses food waste, for example, by (1) standardizing the voluntary labels used by food producers to indicate the date by which food should be used or discarded, and (2) making composting activities eligible for support through USDA conservation programs. Moreover, the bill establishes grants to reduce and prevent food waste in landfills and in schools.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2021-04-23
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy.
action_date: 2021-04-22
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Trade.
action_date: 2021-04-22
text: Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Education and Labor, Energy and Commerce, Oversight and Reform, and House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2021-04-22
text: Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Education and Labor, Energy and Commerce, Oversight and Reform, and House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2021-04-22
text: Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Education and Labor, Energy and Commerce, Oversight and Reform, and House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2021-04-22
text: Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Education and Labor, Energy and Commerce, Oversight and Reform, and House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2021-04-22
text: Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Education and Labor, Energy and Commerce, Oversight and Reform, and House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2021-04-22
text: Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Education and Labor, Energy and Commerce, Oversight and Reform, and House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2021-04-22
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2021-04-22
text: Introduced in House