Sec. 12517. Measurement, monitoring, reporting, and verification of greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration
1,102 words·~5 min read·
/bill/118/s/5335/is/section-12517·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Not later than 270 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall develop a standardized methodology to directly measure soil carbon for research and conservation purposes. In developing the methodology under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall conduct a review of widely used existing methodologies for direct soil carbon measurement. In developing the methodology under paragraph
(1)and conducting the review under paragraph (2), the Secretary shall consult with— agricultural producers and forest landowners, including historically underserved farmers, ranchers, and foresters; soil carbon experts; nonprofit organizations; academic researchers; and other stakeholders who reflect the operational, geographic, and socioeconomic diversity of United States agricultural operations. In developing the methodology under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall consider factors such as— usability at any location at which soil carbon can be directly measured; calibration differences in soil analysis between testing facilities; and differences in uncertainty between different measurement tools. The Secretary shall update the methodology developed under paragraph
(1)as needed to reflect the best-available data science. In making any updates under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall ensure that data remains interoperable with previously collected measurements. There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this subsection $10,000,000. Of the amount appropriated under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall use not less than 30 percent to provide culturally appropriate technical assistance and guidance to historically underserved farmers, ranchers, and foresters. Chapter 5 of subtitle D of title XII of the Food Security Act of 1985 is amended by inserting after section 1240M ( 16 U.S.C. 3839bb ) the following: In this section: The term conservation activities has the meaning given the term in section 1240I. The term eligible land means public and private cropland, rangeland, pastureland, forestland, and wetlands in the United States. The term program means the program established under subsection (b)(1). The term regional resource area means a contiguous area of eligible land that has similar resource characteristics. The term resource characteristics means— geographic, climate, natural resource, and soil type characteristics; and any other characteristics that the Secretary determines to be appropriate for the purpose of carrying out the program. The term Secretary means the Secretary, acting jointly through the Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Administrator of the Agricultural Research Service, and the Chief of the Forest Service. The Secretary shall establish a program to inventory, monitor, and analyze soil carbon changes on eligible land in the United States. The purposes of the program are— to analyze soil properties, including soil organic carbon, across space, time, and depth; and to analyze the impacts of land management strategies, including conservation activities, on soil carbon sequestration. In carrying out the program, the Secretary shall consult with the Director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the Chief of the Forest Service, the Chief Data Officer, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Secretary of Energy, and the head of any other department or agency that the Secretary determines to be appropriate. The Secretary shall select sample sites under the program by taking into consideration— the accessibility of sites; the ease of collecting reported measurements over time; and such other factors as the Secretary determines to be appropriate. In selecting sample sites under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall give preference to sites that have been used for soil testing previously. The Secretary shall select sufficient sample sites under paragraph
(1)to analyze changes in soil carbon across regional resource areas, as determined by the Secretary, over time, taking into account the geographical size and heterogeneity of each regional resource area. Every 5 years, the Secretary shall prepare an inventory of soil carbon stocks on eligible land, under which the Secretary shall collect measurements at each sample site selected under subsection (c). The Secretary shall ensure that the methodology developed under section 12517(a) of the Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act of 2024 is used for purposes of conducting measurements at each sample site under the program. The Secretary shall measure a sufficient number of samples to analyze changes in soil carbon at each sample site selected under subsection
(c)for each inventory under paragraph (1). In preparing each inventory under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall document the following characteristics for each sample site selected under subsection (c): Soil type and texture. Land use history, including conservation activities. Environmental characteristics, such as temperature and precipitation. Land management practices implemented on eligible land, including conservation activities. Other characteristics, as determined by the Secretary. On completion of each inventory under subsection (d)(1), the Secretary shall prepare, publish, and make available to the public a report that— contains a description of soil carbon trends, including by incorporating measurements conducted under subsection
(d)during the 5 years covered by the report; contains an analysis of the impact of different land management practices, including implementing 1 or more conservation activities, on soil carbon levels; contains an analysis of the effect of weather and climate variability on the observed trends; contains an analysis of how land management practices, including conservation activities, that influence soil carbon sequestration may affect the rate of emissions of other greenhouse gases in the agricultural sector, including methane and nitrous oxide; and establishes a benchmark for the baseline soil carbon absent additional conservation activities. There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $40,000,000. . Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the head of any other Federal agency that the Secretary determines to be appropriate, shall partner with nongovernmental experts and researchers to develop and maintain a modeling tool (or combination of tools), as determined to be appropriate by the Secretary, that shall predict the impacts of different land management practices, including implementing conservation activities, on greenhouse gas emissions and soil carbon sequestration across the United States. The tool described in paragraph
(1)shall— be anchored in direct measurements of land, including soil sampling; account for differences that could impact land management outcomes, including— soil type; type of land use; type of crop; species, maturity, and diversity of tree stands; geography and local climate; geographic size of the land-use operation; ongoing or existing conservation activities; and such other items as the Secretary determines to be appropriate; allow a user of the tool to estimate the changes in greenhouse gas emissions or soil carbon sequestration, and the uncertainty of those estimated changes, that occur as a result of implementing 1 or more conservation activities; and be user-friendly and accessible— to producers and researchers; and in multiple languages.
Connectionstraces to 1
Traces to 1 document
Citation graph
cites case law
Sec. 12517
Measurement, monitoring, reporting, and verification of greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration
Cites 1Cited by 0 across 0 sources