[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 106 (Monday, June 25, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S4374]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  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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