S.Amdt. 3080

SA 3080. Mr. SANDERS submitted an amendment intended to be proposed
by him to the bill H.R. 2, to provide for the reform and continuation
of agricultural and other programs of the Department of Agriculture
through fiscal year 2023, and for other purposes; which was ordered to
lie on the table; as follows:

At the appropriate place in title II, insert the following:

SEC. 2__. SOIL QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM.

Chapter 2 of subtitle D of title XII of the Food Security
Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3838 et seq.) is amended by adding at
the end the following:

``Subchapter C--Soil Quality Improvement

``SEC. 1238H. SOIL QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM.

``(a) No-till Farm Equipment Grant and Loan Program.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall establish, in the
Natural Resources Conservation Service, a program to provide
grants and loans to agricultural producers with the goal, not
later than January 1, 2026, of increasing to 50 percent the
total percent of farmed acres in the United States under
continuous no-till cultivation.
``(2) Grants.--The Secretary shall use not less than 20
percent of the funds made available for the program
established under paragraph (1) to make grants.
``(3) Purchase or lease of equipment.--An agricultural
producer may use funds made available under this section to
finance or otherwise incentivize the purchase or lease of
equipment necessary to carry out continuous no-till
cultivation, as determined by the Secretary.
``(4) Education and outreach.--In establishing the program
under this section, the Secretary shall include an education
and outreach program, carried out by the Secretary in
coordination with--
``(A) State and local farm agencies;
``(B) institutions of higher education;
``(C) the National Institute of Food and Agriculture;
``(D) the National Association of Conservation Districts;
``(E) the Soil and Water Conservation Society; and
``(F) the Agricultural Tri-Societies.
``(b) Report on Soil Carbon Uptake.--Not later than 1 year
after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary
shall publish a report that includes--
``(1) methodologies and protocols for tracking practices
(including conservation tillage, continuous no-till
cultivation, and the use of cover crops) that increase the
uptake of carbon into soils, including--
``(A) the use of satellite-based and other remote sensing
technologies; and
``(B) methods for monitoring net carbon transfer rates
between soils and the atmosphere, including biogeochemical
process models; and
``(2) an assessment of--
``(A) carbon stocks in United States soils as of the date
of the report;
``(B) the potential for United States soils as a reservoir
for carbon;
``(C) the net mass transfer rate of carbon between soils
and the atmosphere on agricultural land and rangeland,
including--
``(i) conservation tillage land;
``(ii) no-till cultivated land; and
``(iii) land on which cover crops are used in rotation; and
``(D) rangeland management practices that increase soil
carbon sequestration.
``(c) Environmental Quality Incentives Program.--The Chief
of the Natural Resources Conservation Service shall carry out
a soil carbon uptake initiative within the environmental
quality incentives program established under chapter 4 to
foster the adoption and sustained use of practices that
increase the amount and the rate of carbon uptake in soils.
``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized
to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section
$30,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2023.''.
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