Volume 167, No. 108 covering the 1st Session of the 117th Congress (2021 - 2022) was published by the Congressional Record.
The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“TEXT OF AMENDMENTS” mentioning the Environmental Protection Agency was published in the Senate section on pages S4701-S4704 on June 22.
More than half of the Agency's employees are engineers, scientists and protection specialists. The Climate Reality Project, a global climate activist organization, accused Agency leadership in the last five years of undermining its main mission.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TEXT OF AMENDMENTS
SA 2119. Mr. LEE submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 1251, to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to develop a program to reduce barriers to entry for farmers, ranchers, and private forest landowners in certain voluntary markets, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Growing Climate Solutions Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. GREENHOUSE GAS TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROVIDER AND
THIRD-PARTY VERIFIER TRANSPARENCY PROGRAM.
(a) Purposes.--The purposes of this section are--
(1) to increase access to informational resources for farmers, ranchers, and private forest landowners regarding voluntary environmental credit markets, including through the Program;
(2) to provide informational resources relating to technical assistance through covered entities to farmers, ranchers, and private forest landowners in overcoming barriers to entry into voluntary environmental credit markets; and
(3) to establish the Advisory Council to advise the Secretary regarding the Program and other related matters.
(b) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Advisory council.--The term ``Advisory Council'' means the Greenhouse Gas Technical Assistance Provider and Third-Party Verifier Transparency Program Advisory Council established under subsection (f)(1).
(2) Agriculture or forestry credit.--The term ``agriculture or forestry credit'' means a credit derived from the prevention, reduction, or mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions or carbon sequestration on agricultural land or private forest land that may be bought or sold on a voluntary environmental credit market.
(3) Beginning farmer or rancher.--The term ``beginning farmer or rancher'' has the meaning given the term in section 2501(a) of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 2279(a)).
(4) Covered entity.--The term ``covered entity'' means a person or State that either--
(A) is a provider of technical assistance to farmers, ranchers, or private forest landowners in carrying out sustainable land use management practices that--
(i) prevent, reduce, or mitigate greenhouse gas emissions; or
(ii) sequester carbon; or
(B) is a third-party verifier entity that conducts the verification of the processes described in protocols for voluntary environmental credit markets.
(5) Greenhouse gas.--The term ``greenhouse gas'' means--
(A) carbon dioxide;
(B) methane;
(C) nitrous oxide; and
(D) any other gas that the Secretary, in consultation with the Advisory Council, determines has been identified to have heat trapping qualities.
(6) Program.--The term ``Program'' means the Greenhouse Gas Technical Assistance Provider and Third-Party Verifier Transparency Program established under subsection (c).
(7) Protocol.--The term ``protocol'' means a systematic approach that follows a science-based methodology that is transparent and thorough to establish resources--
(A) for the development of projects to prevent, reduce, or mitigate greenhouse gas emissions or sequester carbon that include 1 or more baseline scenarios; and
(B) demonstrating how to quantify, monitor, report, and verify the prevention, reduction, or mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions or carbon sequestration by projects described in subparagraph (A).
(8) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Agriculture.
(9) Technical assistance.--The term ``technical assistance'' means technical expertise, information, and tools necessary to assist a farmer, rancher, or private forest landowner who is engaged in or wants to engage in a project to prevent, reduce, or mitigate greenhouse gas emissions or sequester carbon to meet a protocol.
(10) Voluntary environmental credit market.--The term
``voluntary environmental credit market'' means a voluntary market through which agriculture or forestry credits may be bought or sold between private sector entities.
(c) Establishment.--
(1) In general.--On the date that is 270 days after the date of enactment of this Act, and after making a positive determination under paragraph (2), the Secretary shall establish a voluntary program, to be known as the
``Greenhouse Gas Technical Assistance Provider and Third-Party Verifier Transparency Program'', to publicize common practices and common qualifications of covered entities that the Secretary determines are related to the activities described in subsection (d).
(2) Determination.--The Secretary shall establish the Program only if, after considering relevant information, including the information collected or reviewed relating to the assessment conducted under subsection (g)(1)(A), the Secretary determines that the Program will further each of the purposes described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a).
(3) Report.--If the Secretary determines under paragraph
(2) that the Program would not further the purposes described in paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (a) and does not establish the Program, the Secretary shall publish a report describing the reasons the Program would not further those purposes.
(d) Common Practices of Technical Assistance Providers.--
(1) Protocols and qualifications.--After providing public notice and at least a 60-day period for public comment, the Secretary shall, during the 90-day period beginning on the date on which the Program is established, publish--
(A) a list of, and documents relating to, generally recognized protocols for voluntary environmental credit markets that are designed to ensure consistency, reliability, effectiveness, efficiency, and transparency, including protocol documents and details relating to--
(i) calculations;
(ii) sampling methodologies;
(iii) accounting principles;
(iv) systems for verification, monitoring, measurement, and reporting; and
(v) methods to account for additionality, permanence, leakage, and, where appropriate, avoidance of double counting; and
(B) descriptions of qualifications of covered entities that provide assistance to farmers, ranchers, and private forest landowners in accomplishing the purposes described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a).
(2) Activities.--The activities described by the Secretary under the Program shall include current and future activities that prevent, reduce, or mitigate greenhouse gas emissions or sequester carbon, which may include--
(A) land or soil carbon sequestration;
(B) emissions reductions derived from fuel choice or reduced fuel use;
(C) livestock emissions reductions, including emissions reductions achieved through--
(i) feeds, feed additives, and the use of byproducts as feed sources; or
(ii) manure management practices;
(D) on-farm energy generation;
(E) energy feedstock production;
(F) fertilizer or nutrient use emissions reductions;
(G) reforestation;
(H) forest management, including improving harvesting practices and thinning diseased trees;
(I) prevention of the conversion of forests, grasslands, and wetlands;
(J) restoration of wetlands or grasslands;
(K) grassland management, including prescribed grazing;
(L) current practices associated with private land conservation programs administered by the Secretary; and
(M) such other activities, or combinations of activities, that the Secretary, in consultation with the Advisory Council, determines to be appropriate.
(3) Requirements.--In publishing the generally recognized protocols and description of qualifications under paragraph
(1), the Secretary, in consultation with the Advisory Council, shall ensure that the descriptions for covered entities to be described under the Program include maintaining expertise in all relevant information relating to market-based protocols, as appropriate, with regard to--
(A) quantification;
(B) verification;
(C) additionality;
(D) permanence;
(E) reporting; and
(F) other expertise, as determined by the Secretary in consultation with the Advisory Council.
(4) Periodic review.--As appropriate, the Secretary shall periodically review and revise the list of generally accepted protocols and description of qualifications published under paragraph (1) to include any additional protocols or qualifications that meet the requirements described in paragraph (3).
(e) Website and Publication of Lists.--
(1) Website and solicitation.--During the 180-day period beginning on the date on which the Program is established, the Secretary shall publish, through an existing website maintained by the Secretary--
(A) the generally accepted protocols and description of qualifications published by the Secretary under subsection
(d)(1); and
(B) instructions and suggestions to assist farmers, ranchers, and private forest landowners in facilitating the development of agriculture or forestry credits and accessing voluntary environmental credit markets, including--
(i) through working with covered entities described under the Program; and
(ii) by providing information relating to programs, registries, and protocols of programs and registries that provide market-based participation opportunities for working and conservation agricultural and forestry lands.
(2) Publication.--
(A) In general.--During the 1-year period beginning on the date on which the Program is established, the Secretary, in consultation with the Advisory Council and following the review by the Secretary for completeness and accuracy, shall use an existing website maintained by the Secretary to publish--
(i) a list of covered entities self-identified as technical assistance providers; and
(ii) a list of covered entities self-identified as verifiers of the processes described in protocols for voluntary environmental credit markets.
(B) Prohibition on claims.--
(i) In general.--A person, regardless of whether the person is described under the Program, shall not knowingly make a claim that the person is a ``USDA-certified technical assistance provider or third-party verifier for voluntary environmental credit markets'' or any substantially similar claim.
(ii) Penalty.--Any person that violates clause (i) shall be subject to a civil penalty equal to such amount as the Secretary determines to be appropriate, not to exceed $1,000 per violation.
(3) Updates.--Not less frequently than quarterly, the Secretary, in consultation with the Advisory Council, shall update the lists published under paragraph (2)(A).
(4) Submission.--The Secretary shall notify Congress of the publication of the initial list under paragraph (2)(A).
(5) Savings clause.--Nothing in this section authorizes the Secretary--
(A) to compel a farmer, rancher, or private forest landowner to participate in a transaction or project facilitated by a covered entity described under the Program; or
(B) to act as a covered entity.
(f) Greenhouse Gas Technical Assistance Provider and Third-Party Verifier Transparency Program Advisory Council.--
(1) In general.--During the 90-day period beginning on the date on which the Program is established, the Secretary shall establish an advisory council, to be known as the
``Greenhouse Gas Technical Assistance Provider and Third-Party Verifier Transparency Program Advisory Council''.
(2) Membership.--
(A) In general.--The Advisory Council shall be composed of members appointed by the Secretary in accordance with this paragraph.
(B) General representation.--The Advisory Council shall--
(i) be broadly representative of the agriculture and private forest sectors; and
(ii) be composed of not less than 51 percent farmers, ranchers, or private forest landowners.
(C) Members.--Members appointed under subparagraph (A) shall include--
(i) not more than 2 representatives of the Department of Agriculture, as determined by the Secretary;
(ii) not more than 1 representative of the Environmental Protection Agency, as determined by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency;
(iii) not more than 1 representative of the National Institute of Standards and Technology;
(iv) not fewer than 12 representatives of the agriculture industry, appointed in a manner that is broadly representative of the agriculture sector, including not fewer than 6 active farmers and ranchers;
(v) not fewer than 4 representatives of private forest landowners or the forestry and forest products industry appointed in a manner that is broadly representative of the private forest sector;
(vi) not more than 4 representatives of the relevant scientific research community, including not fewer than 2 representatives from land-grant colleges and universities (as defined in section 1404 of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3103)), of which 1 shall be a representative of a college or university eligible to receive funds under the Act of August 30, 1890 (commonly known as the ``Second Morrill Act'') (26 Stat. 417, chapter 841; 7 U.S.C. 321 et seq.), including Tuskegee University;
(vii) not fewer than 12 experts or professionals familiar with voluntary environmental credit markets and the verification requirements in those markets;
(viii) not more than 3 members of nongovernmental or civil society organizations with relevant expertise; and
(ix) not more than 3 members of private sector entities or organizations that participate in voluntary environmental credit markets through which agriculture or forestry credits are bought and sold.
(D) Chair.--The Secretary shall designate a member of the Advisory Council to serve as the Chair.
(E) Terms.--
(i) In general.--The term of a member of the Advisory Council shall be 2 years, except that, of the members first appointed--
(I) not fewer than 8 members shall serve for a term of 1 year;
(II) not fewer than 12 members shall serve for a term of 2 years; and
(III) not fewer than 12 members shall serve for a term of 3 years.
(ii) Additional terms.--After the initial term of a member of the Advisory Council, including the members first appointed, the member may serve not more than 4 additional 2-year terms.
(3) Meetings.--
(A) Frequency.--The Advisory Council shall meet not less frequently than annually, at the call of the Chair.
(B) Initial meeting.--During the 90-day period beginning on the date on which the members are appointed under paragraph
(2)(A), the Advisory Council shall hold an initial meeting.
(4) Duties.--The Advisory Council shall--
(A) periodically review and recommend any appropriate changes to the list of generally recognized protocols and description of qualifications published by the Secretary under subsection (d)(1);
(B) make recommendations to the Secretary regarding the best practices that should be included in the descriptions of generally recognized protocols and qualifications described in subparagraph (A); and
(C) advise the Secretary regarding--
(i) the current methods used by voluntary environmental credit markets to quantify and verify the prevention, reduction, and mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions or sequestration of carbon;
(ii) additional considerations for describing covered entities under the Program;
(iii) means to reduce Federal barriers to entry in the business of providing technical assistance or the verification of the processes described in protocols for voluntary environmental credit markets for covered entities;
(iv) means to reduce Federal compliance and verification costs for farmers, ranchers, and private forest landowners in entering voluntary environmental credit markets, including through mechanisms and processes to aggregate the value of activities across land ownership;
(v) issues relating to land and asset ownership in light of evolving voluntary environmental credit markets; and
(vi) additional means to reduce barriers to entry in voluntary environmental credit markets for farmers, ranchers, and private forest landowners.
(5) Compensation.--The members of the Advisory Council shall serve without compensation.
(6) Conflict of interest.--The Secretary shall prohibit any member of the Advisory Council from--
(A) engaging in any determinations or activities of the Advisory Council that may result in the favoring of, or a direct and predictable effect on--
(i) the member or a family member, as determined by the Secretary;
(ii) stock owned by the member or a family member, as determined by the Secretary; or
(iii) the employer of, or a business owned in whole or in part by, the member or a family member, as determined by the Secretary; or
(B) providing advice or recommendations regarding, or otherwise participating in, matters of the Advisory Council that--
(i) constitute a conflict of interest under section 208 of title 18, United States Code; or
(ii) may call into question the integrity of the Advisory Council, the Program, or the technical assistance or verification activities described under subsection (d)(2).
(7) FACA applicability.--The Advisory Council shall be subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.), except that section 14(a)(2) of that Act shall not apply.
(g) Assessment.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 240 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consultation with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, shall--
(A) conduct an assessment, including by incorporating information from existing publications and reports of the Department of Agriculture and other entities with relevant expertise, regarding--
(i) the number and categories of non-Federal actors in the nonprofit and for-profit sectors involved in buying, selling, and trading agriculture or forestry credits in voluntary environmental credit markets;
(ii) the estimated overall domestic market demand for agriculture or forestry credits at the end of the preceding 4-calendar year period, and historically, in voluntary environmental credit markets;
(iii) the total number of agriculture or forestry credits
(measured in metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent) that were estimated to be in development, generated, or sold in market transactions during the preceding 4-calendar year period, and historically, in voluntary environmental credit markets;
(iv) the estimated supply and demand of metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent of offsets in the global marketplace for the next 4 years;
(v) the barriers to entry due to compliance and verification costs described in subsection (f)(4)(C)(iv);
(vi) the state of monitoring and measurement technologies needed to quantify long-term carbon sequestration in soils and from other activities to prevent, reduce, or mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in the agriculture and forestry sectors;
(vii) means to reduce Federal barriers to entry into voluntary environmental credit markets for small and beginning farmers, ranchers, and private forest landowners and the extent to which existing protocols in voluntary environmental credit markets allow for aggregation of projects among farmers, ranchers, and private forest landowners;
(viii) the potential impact of Department of Agriculture activities on supply and demand of agriculture or forestry credits;
(ix) the extent to which existing protocols in voluntary environmental credit markets, including verification, additionality, permanence, and reporting, adequately take into consideration and account for factors encountered by the agriculture and private forest sectors in preventing, reducing, or mitigating greenhouse gases or sequestering carbon through agriculture and forestry practices, considering variances across regions, topography, soil types, crop or species varieties, and business models;
(x) the extent to which existing protocols in voluntary environmental credit markets consider options to ensure the continued valuation, through discounting or other means, of agriculture and forestry credits in the case of the practices underlying those credits being disrupted due to unavoidable events, including production challenges and natural disasters; and
(xi) opportunities for other voluntary markets outside of voluntary environmental credit markets to foster the trading, buying, or selling of credits that are derived from activities that provide other ecosystem service benefits, including activities that improve water quality, water quantity, wildlife habitat enhancement, and other ecosystem services, as the Secretary determines appropriate;
(B) publish the assessment; and
(C) submit the assessment to Congress, the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate, and the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives.
(2) Quadrennial assessment.--The Secretary, in consultation with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Advisory Council, shall conduct the assessment described in paragraph (1)(A) and publish and submit the assessment in accordance with subparagraphs (B) and (C) of paragraph (1) every 4 years after the publication and submission of the first assessment under subparagraphs (B) and (C) of paragraph (1).
(h) Report.--Not later than 2 years after the date on which the Program is established, and every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary shall publish and submit to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate and the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives a report describing, for the period covered by the report--
(1) a review of the outcomes of the Program, including--
(A) the ability of farmers, ranchers, and private forest landowners, including small and beginning farmers, ranchers, and private forest landowners, to develop agriculture or forestry credits through covered entities described under the Program;
(B) methods to improve the ability of farmers, ranchers, and private forest landowners to overcome barriers to entry to voluntary environmental credit markets; and
(C) methods to further facilitate participation of farmers, ranchers, and private forest landowners in voluntary environmental credit markets; and
(2) any recommendations for improvements to the Program.
(i) Confidentiality.--
(1) Prohibition.--
(A) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), the Secretary, any other officer or employee of the Department of Agriculture or any agency of the Department of Agriculture, or any other person may not disclose to the public the information held by the Secretary described in subparagraph
(B).
(B) Information.--
(i) In general.--Except as provided in clause (ii), the information prohibited from disclosure under subparagraph (A) is--
(I) information collected by the Secretary or published by the Secretary under subsection (g) or (h);
(II) personally identifiable information, including in a contract or service agreement, of a farmer, rancher, or private forest landowner, obtained by the Secretary under this section; and
(III) confidential business information in a contract or service agreement of a farmer, rancher, or private forest landowner obtained by the Secretary under this section.
(ii) Aggregated release.--Information described in clause
(i) may be released to the public if the information has been transformed into a statistical or aggregate form that does not allow the identification of the person who supplied or is the subject of the particular information.
(2) Exception.--Paragraph (1) shall not prohibit the disclosure by an officer or employee of the Federal Government of information described in paragraph (1)(B) as otherwise directed by the Secretary or the Attorney General for enforcement purposes.
(j) Funding.--
(1) Authorization of appropriations.--In addition to the amount made available under paragraph (2), there is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section
$1,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026.
(2) Direct funding.--
(A) Rescission.--There is rescinded $4,100,000 of the unobligated balance of amounts made available by section 1003 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).
(B) Direct funding.--If sufficient unobligated amounts made available by section 1003 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2) are available on the date of enactment of this Act to execute the entire rescission described in subparagraph (A), then on the day after the execution of the entire rescission, there is appropriated to the Secretary, out of amounts in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, $4,100,000 to carry out this section.
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