[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1356 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1356
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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 22, 2021
Mr. Wyden 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 create permanent payments
within the environmental quality incentives program for soil health
practices and carbon sequestration monitoring, 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 ``Healthy Soils Healthy Climate Act of
2021''.
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE FOOD SECURITY ACT OF 1985.
(a) Increased Payments for High-Priority Practices.--Section
1240B(d)(7)(A) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa-
2(d)(7)(A)) is amended--
(1) in clause (iii), by striking ``or'' at the end;
(2) in clause (iv), by striking the period at the end and
inserting ``; or''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(v) increases soil organic carbon
levels.''.
(b) Incentive Payments for Soil Health Practices and Carbon
Sequestration Monitoring.--
(1) In general.--Section 1240B of the Food Security Act of
1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa-2) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``(k) Incentive Payments for Soil Health Practices and Carbon
Sequestration Monitoring.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall provide incentive
payments to producers to adopt practices designed to improve
soil health through increasing carbon levels in soil (referred
to in this section as `soil organic carbon levels').
``(2) Requirements.--In providing the incentive payments
under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall--
``(A) establish payments to provide an incentive
for the use of practices across a variety of geographic
regions that--
``(i) improve soil health;
``(ii) sequester carbon in the soil; or
``(iii) meet the goals described in clauses
(i) and (ii); and
``(B) establish protocols for measuring soil
organic carbon levels before and after treatment under
this subsection to measure gains in soil health as a
result of the practices.
``(3) Priority.--In providing incentive payments under
paragraph (1), the Secretary shall give priority to providing
the payments to--
``(A) small producers, as determined by the
Secretary;
``(B) producers in rural areas, as determined by
the Secretary; or
``(C) socially disadvantaged farmers, as determined
by the Secretary.
``(4) Study; report to congress.--
``(A) Study.--Not later than 2 years after the date
of enactment of this subsection, and every 2 years
thereafter, the Secretary shall conduct a study
regarding changes in soil health and soil organic
carbon levels as a result of the practices used under
this subsection.
``(B) Report to congress.--Not later than 2 years
after the date of enactment of this subsection, and
every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to
Congress a report describing and analyzing the results
of the study conducted under subparagraph (A).
``(C) Inclusion.--The report under subparagraph (B)
shall include an analysis of--
``(i) the effect of various practices on
soil organic carbon levels;
``(ii) the extent to which the lessons
learned in carrying out this subsection can be
transferred to other geographic regions;
``(iii) further data required to
substantiate the connection between soil
organic carbon levels and crop yield and
resiliency, if applicable;
``(iv) the effect of multiple practices on
soil organic carbon levels; and
``(v) potential barriers to data collection
across a variety of geographic regions.''.
(2) Funding.--Section 1240B(f) of the Food Security Act of
1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa-2(f)) is amended by adding at the end
the following:
``(3) Incentive payments for soil health practices and
carbon sequestration monitoring.--For each fiscal year for
which funds are made available under section 1241(a)(3)(A), of
the funds made available for payments under the program,
$100,000,000 shall be used to provide incentive payments under
subsection (k).''.
(3) Conforming amendments.--Section 1240H of the Food
Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa-8) is amended--
(A) in subsection (c), by striking paragraph (7);
and
(B) in subsection (d)(1)--
(i) in subparagraph (B), by adding ``and''
at the end;
(ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``;
and'' and inserting a period; and
(iii) by striking subparagraph (D).
(c) Priority for Soil Health and Carbon Sequestration.--Section
1240B of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa-2) (as amended
by subsection (b)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(l) Priority for Soil Health and Carbon Sequestration.--
``(1) In general.--To the maximum extent feasible, the
Secretary shall manage the program to promote practices at
least 1 of the benefits of which is enhancement of soil health
or increasing soil organic carbon levels.
``(2) Soil health and carbon sequestration on eligible
land.--The Secretary shall--
``(A) develop ranking and scoring criteria under
the program that prioritize practices that score
highest in soil carbon sequestration on eligible land;
and
``(B) develop a soil organic carbon conservation
activity plan under the program to measure and monitor
sequestration and mitigation improvement levels from
the practices described in subparagraph (A), such as
cover crops, crop rotation, and improved soil
management.''.
(d) Streamlining and Coordination.--Section 1240B of the Food
Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa-2) (as amended by subsection
(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(m) Streamlining and Coordination.--To the maximum extent
feasible, the Secretary shall provide for streamlined and coordinated
procedures for the program and the conservation stewardship program
under subchapter B, including applications, contracting, conservation
planning, conservation practices, and related administrative
procedures.''.
(e) Soil Health and Carbon Science Research Program at Agriculture
Research Stations.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall establish a
program--
(1) to provide grants to land-grant colleges and
universities to conduct research relating to soil health and
carbon science; and
(2) to conduct research relating to soil health and carbon
science at agriculture research stations of the Department of
Agriculture.
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