PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the Subcommittee on Conservation, Research, and Biotechnology.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Mar 5, 2025
Climate Agricultural Conservation Practices Act
This bill requires the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to consider climate benefits in reviews or revisions of its conservation practice standards. Climate benefits include a reduction in agricultural greenhouse gas emissions, an increase in carbon sequestration, or mitigation against (or adaptation to) increased weather volatility.
As background, NRCS administers most of the Department of Agriculture conservation programs, which assist producers and landowners who wish to practice conservation on agricultural lands. The NRCS conservation practice standards provide guidance and set out minimum quality criteria for implementing federally funded conservation practices.
People & committees
Rep. Brownley, Julia [D-CA-26] · D–CA
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Conservation, Research, and Biotechnology.
Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Sep 19, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-03-05 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
This bill would add climate considerations to standards for agricultural conservation practices. It would require evaluating the standards’ climate benefits, including reducing agricultural greenhouse gas emissions, storing more carbon, or responding to more variable weather. These proposed changes concern how conservation standards are assessed; the supplied text does not establish that any particular climate outcome would result.
Consideration of climate benefits in conservation practice standards
(E) evaluate the climate benefits of the standards.
the term climate benefit means— (A) a reduction in agricultural greenhouse gas emissions; (B) an increase in carbon sequestration; or (C) mitigation against, or adaptation to, increased weather volatility.
The proposal would amend section 1242(h) of the Food Security Act of 1985 to add an instruction to evaluate conservation standards’ climate benefits. The existing subsection is not reproduced, so the supplied text does not fully explain who must conduct that evaluation or how.
Section 1242(h) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3842(h)) is amended—
(D) by adding at the end the following: (E) evaluate the climate benefits of the standards.
In paragraph (1)(A), the bill would replace a timing requirement of one year after enactment of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 with five years after enactment of this proposed act. The supplied amendment does not reproduce the underlying requirement governed by that timing language.
(1) in paragraph (1)— (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking 1 year after the date of enactment of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 and inserting 5 years after the date of enactment of the Climate Agricultural Conservation Practices Act;
The bill would also insert “climate benefits” alongside “conservation innovations” in paragraph (3)(B). Because that paragraph is not reproduced, the supplied text supports identifying the added consideration but not fully explaining its operation.
(2) in paragraph (3)(B), by striking conservation innovations and and inserting climate benefits, conservation innovations, and;
For this subsection, a “climate benefit” would mean any of three alternatives: reducing agricultural greenhouse gas emissions; increasing carbon sequestration, meaning carbon capture and storage; or reducing harm from, or adapting to, increased weather variability.
(5) Climate benefit defined In this subsection, the term climate benefit means— (A) a reduction in agricultural greenhouse gas emissions; (B) an increase in carbon sequestration; or (C) mitigation against, or adaptation to, increased weather volatility.
The supplied official-actions snapshot, updated September 19, 2026, records introduction and referral to the House Committee on Agriculture on March 5, 2025, followed by referral to the Subcommittee on Conservation, Research, and Biotechnology on March 28, 2025.
Source snapshot updated 2026-09-19T23:20:31Z. 2025-03-28: Referred to the Subcommittee on Conservation, Research, and Biotechnology. 2025-03-05: Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture. 2025-03-05: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-03-05. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy rider was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No materially narrow carve-out, special exemption, or preferential treatment was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Sep 19, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI