[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5583 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5583

 To establish an advisory panel to study the development of a climate-
    friendly certification for agricultural products, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 20, 2023

  Ms. Brownley (for herself and Mr. Cleaver) introduced the following 
        bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To establish an advisory panel to study the development of a climate-
    friendly certification for agricultural products, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Climate-Friendly Food Label Task 
Force Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) 10 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions emitted by 
        the United States come from the agricultural sector.
            (2) Sustainable agricultural practices that reduce 
        greenhouse gas emissions and prevent deforestation will be 
        critical to preventing the Earth from reaching 1.5 degrees 
        Celsius warmer than pre-industrial levels, the threshold that 
        would result in catastrophic climate-related effects.
            (3) Improving the agricultural sector's impact on the 
        climate is a vital component of efforts by the U.S. to meet its 
        contributions to the Paris Agreement.
            (4) The USDA Organic label represents a successful model 
        for using voluntary, market-based approaches to driving 
        innovation in the agricultural sector and successfully created 
        a robust organic market in the United States.
            (5) Market-based approaches like USDA Organic can spark 
        significant economic benefits including jobs, and new, higher 
        revenues for farmers.
            (6) In 2021, organic farming totaled $11,200,000,000 in 
        sales, created opportunity for 17,445 organic farms, and 28 
        percent of organic farmers planned to continue to grow their 
        level of organic production. A similar voluntary, market-based 
        approach to climate-friendly agricultural practices could 
        create comparable economic benefits for farmers and workers.

SEC. 3. STUDY OF CLIMATE-FRIENDLY CERTIFICATION FOR AGRICULTURAL 
              PRODUCTS.

    (a) Establishment.--There is established an advisory panel to carry 
out the study described in subsection (c).
    (b) Members.--The advisory panel established under subsection (a) 
shall be composed of members appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture 
and shall include--
            (1) representatives--
                    (A) that are scientists, including experts on 
                climate science and nutrition science;
                    (B) of environmental advocacy organizations;
                    (C) of industry, including food manufacturing and 
                farming; and
                    (D) of other stakeholders, as the Secretary of 
                Agriculture determines appropriate; and
            (2) at least one representative from each of the following:
                    (A) The Department of Agriculture.
                    (B) The Environmental Protection Agency.
                    (C) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
                    (D) The Food and Drug Administration.
                    (E) The National Academy of Sciences.
                    (F) Any other Federal agency the Secretary of 
                Agriculture determines appropriate.
    (c) Report Required.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the panel shall submit to the Secretary of 
Agriculture and Congress a report that includes--
            (1) recommendations regarding the development of a climate-
        friendly certification for agricultural products that--
                    (A) moves agricultural producers toward reducing 
                greenhouse gas emissions on a life-cycle basis; and
                    (B) uses market-based approaches that allows for 
                greater consumer choice and education; and
            (2) how such a certification would measure--
                    (A) the life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of 
                agricultural products;
                    (B) the water usage in production of agricultural 
                products;
                    (C) the land use effects of agricultural products; 
                and
                    (D) any additional criteria the panel determines 
                appropriate.
    (d) Publication.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall make the 
report required under subsection (c) publicly available on the website 
of the Department of Agriculture.
    (e) Moratorium on Use of Climate-Friendly Certification During 
Study.--The Secretary of Agriculture may not issue any regulations or 
guidance or otherwise certify or advertise any agricultural product as 
climate-friendly before the date on which the report required under 
subsection (c) is submitted to Congress.
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