S. 1251 (117^th): Growing Climate Solutions Act of 2021

prevent, reduce, or mitigate greenhouse gas emissions; or

sequester carbon; or

a list of, and documents relating to, 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—

descriptions of qualifications for covered entities that—

the provision of technical assistance to farmers, ranchers, and private forest landowners for carrying out activities described in paragraph (2); or

the verification of the processes described in protocols for voluntary environmental credit markets that are used in carrying out activities described in paragraph (2).

feeds, feed additives, and the use of byproducts as feed sources; or

manure management practices;

quantification;

verification;

additionality;

permanence;

reporting; and

other expertise, as determined by the Secretary; and

maintain expertise in the protocols described in clause (i) of subsection (d)(1)(A); and

adhere to the qualifications described in clause (ii) of that subsection; and

in the protocols described in clause (i) of subsection (d)(1)(A); and

to meet the qualifications described in clause (ii) of that subsection;

through working with covered entities certified under the Program; and

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.

noncompliance with the requirements under subsection (d)(1)(B); or

a violation of subsection (f)(2)(A).

request from that covered entity contact information for all farmers, ranchers, and private forest landowners to which the covered entity provided technical assistance or the verification of the processes described in protocols for voluntary environmental credit markets; and

notify those farmers, ranchers, and private forest landowners of the revocation.

subject to a civil penalty equal to such amount as the Secretary determines to be appropriate, not to exceed $1,000 per violation; and

ineligible to certify under the Program for the 5-year period beginning on the date of the violation.

subject to a civil penalty equal to such amount as the Secretary determines to be appropriate, not to exceed $1,000 per violation; and

ineligible to certify under the Program for the 5-year period beginning on the date of the violation.

be broadly representative of the agriculture and private forest sectors;

include socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers and other historically underserved farmers, ranchers, or private forest landowners; and

be composed of not less than 51 percent farmers, ranchers, or private forest landowners.

not more than 2 representatives of the Department of Agriculture, as determined by the Secretary;

not more than 1 representative of the Environmental Protection Agency, as determined by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency;

not more than 1 representative of the National Institute of Standards and Technology;

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;

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;

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;

not more than 2 experts or professionals familiar with voluntary environmental credit markets and the verification requirements in those markets;

not more than 3 members of nongovernmental or civil society organizations with relevant expertise, of which not fewer than 1 shall represent the interests of socially disadvantaged groups;

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; and

any other individual whom the Secretary determines to be necessary to ensure that the Advisory Council is composed of a diverse group of representatives of industry, academia, independent researchers, and public and private entities.

In general

The term of a member of the Advisory Council shall be 2 years, except that, of the members first appointed—

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.

the list of protocols and description of qualifications published by the Secretary under subsection (d)(1)(A); and

the requirements described in subsection (d)(1)(B);

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;

additional considerations for certifying covered entities under the Program;

means to reduce 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, including by improving technical assistance provided by the Secretary;

means to reduce 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;

issues relating to land and asset ownership in light of evolving voluntary environmental credit markets; and

additional means to reduce barriers to entry in voluntary environmental credit markets for farmers, ranchers, and private forest landowners, particularly for historically underserved, socially disadvantaged, or limited resource farmers, ranchers, or private forest landowners.

the member or a family member, as determined by the Secretary;

stock owned by the member or a family member, as determined by the Secretary; or

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

constitute a conflict of interest under section 208 of title 18, United States Code; or

may call into question the integrity of the Advisory Council, the Program, or the technical assistance or verification activities described under subsection (d)(2).

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;

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;

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;

the estimated supply and demand of metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent of offsets in the global marketplace for the next 4 years;

the barriers to entry due to compliance and verification costs described in subsection (g)(4)(C)(iv);

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;

means to reduce barriers to entry into voluntary environmental credit markets for small, beginning, and socially disadvantaged 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;

means to leverage existing Department of Agriculture programs and other Federal programs that could improve, lower the costs of, and enhance the deployment of monitoring and measurement technologies described in clause (vi);

the potential impact of Department of Agriculture activities on supply and demand of agriculture or forestry credits;

the potential role of the Department of Agriculture in encouraging innovation in voluntary environmental credit markets;

the extent to which the existing regimes for generating and selling agriculture or forestry credits, as the regimes exist at the end of the preceding 4-calendar year period, and historically, and existing voluntary environmental credit markets, may be impeded or constricted, or achieve greater scale and reach, if the Department of Agriculture were involved, including by considering the role of the Department of Agriculture in reducing the barriers to entry identified under clause (v), including by educating stakeholders about voluntary environmental credit markets;

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;

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

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;

In general

Except as provided in clause (ii), the information prohibited from disclosure under subparagraph (A) is—

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.