Growing Climate Solutions Act Introduced April 20, 2021

SPONSORS • Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Senator Mike Braun (R-IN), Senator Lindsey Graham (R- SC), and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)

COSPONSORS (as of introduction) • Senators John Boozman (R-AR), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Mitt Romney (R- UT), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Tina Smith (D-MN), Susan Collins (R-ME), Chris Coons (D-DE), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Angus King (I-ME), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Jacky Rosen (D- NV), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), John Thune (R-SD), Todd Young (R-IN), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), John Hoeven (R-ND), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Tom Carper (D-DE), Ron Wyden (R-OR), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL)

SUMMARY The Growing Climate Solutions Act is a bipartisan bill to facilitate agricultural producers and forest owners of all sizes looking to enter the carbon market for the first time access to reliable information, qualified technical service providers, and third-party verifiers. The bill also establishes a USDA advisory council composed of farmers, scientists, and other climate stakeholders.

HIGHLIGHTS • Creates a certification program at USDA aimed at solving technical entry barriers that prevent farmer and forest landowner participation in carbon credit markets. • Establishes the “Greenhouse Gas Technical Assistance Provider and Third-Party Verified Certification Program” to: o facilitate the participation of farmers, ranchers, and private forest landowners in voluntary environmental credit markets; o facilitate the provision of technical assistance through covered entities to farmers, ranchers, and private forest landowners in overcoming barriers to entry into voluntary environmental credit markets and; o assist covered entities in certifying under the Program. • Establishes a USDA advisory council that is broadly representative of the agriculture and private forest sectors. • Instructs USDA to produce a report to Congress to advise about the further development of this policy area including barriers to market entry, challenges raised by farmers and forest landowners, market performance, and suggestions on where USDA can make a positive contribution to the further adoption of voluntary carbon sequestration practices in agriculture and forestry.

Read more about the Growing Climate Solutions Act