This bill amends a part of the Food Security Act of 1985 to require the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to review national conservation practice standards and to evaluate the climate benefits of those standards. It changes a timing phrase so a review happens five years after the Climate Agricultural Conservation Practices Act is enacted. The bill adds "climate benefits" to the list of things NRCS must consider and defines "climate benefit" to mean: (A) a reduction in agricultural greenhouse gas emissions; (B) an increase in carbon sequestration; or (C) mitigation against, or adaptation to, increased weather volatility. It also adds "climate benefits" alongside "conservation innovations" in an existing list of review factors.
If the bill becomes law, NRCS would be required to review and evaluate conservation practice standards with climate benefits in mind. NRCS staff would carry out the review and use the new definition of "climate benefit" when evaluating standards. People who use or follow NRCS conservation practices, such as farmers and land managers, may see NRCS use climate-related criteria when updating those standards.
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The bill text directs NRCS to evaluate climate benefits and to define what counts as a climate benefit. The sponsors introduced the bill to add climate considerations into the NRCS standards review. No additional publicly available information about proponents' statements or detailed rationales appears in the bill text or metadata provided.
No publicly available information.