Climate Agricultural Conservation Practices Act

Bill: 119-hr-1854
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Brownley, Julia [D-CA-26]
Introduced: 2025-03-05
Policy area: Agriculture and Food
Latest action: action_date: 2025-03-28
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Conservation, Research, and Biotechnology.

Summaries:
action_date: 2025-03-05
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><strong>Climate Agricultural Conservation Practices Act</strong></p><p>This bill requires the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to consider climate benefits in reviews or revisions of its conservation practice standards. Climate benefits include&nbsp;a reduction in agricultural greenhouse gas emissions, an increase in carbon sequestration, or&nbsp;mitigation against (or adaptation to) increased weather volatility.</p><p>As background, NRCS&nbsp;administers most of the Department of Agriculture conservation programs, which assist producers and landowners who wish to practice conservation on agricultural lands. The NRCS conservation practice standards&nbsp;provide guidance and set out minimum quality criteria for implementing federally funded conservation practices.</p>

tv_txt: I 119th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 1854 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 5, 2025 Ms. Brownley (for herself, Ms. Castor of Florida , Ms. Salinas , and Ms. Stansbury ) 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.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Climate Agricultural Conservation Practices Act . 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) in subparagraph (A), by striking 1 year after the date of enactment of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 and inserting 5 years after the date of enactment of the Climate Agricultural Conservation Practices Act ; (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. .