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Agriculture Environmental Stewardship Act of 2021
12/30/2022, 5:47 PM
Summary of Bill HR 3939
Specifically, the bill includes provisions for increasing funding for conservation programs, such as the Conservation Reserve Program and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, which provide financial assistance to farmers for implementing conservation practices on their land. Additionally, the bill aims to improve soil health, water quality, and wildlife habitat through increased funding for conservation practices such as cover cropping, crop rotation, and wetland restoration.
The Agriculture Environmental Stewardship Act of 2021 also includes measures to support sustainable agriculture practices, such as promoting the use of renewable energy sources on farms and encouraging the adoption of precision agriculture technologies to reduce input use and improve efficiency. Overall, the bill seeks to incentivize farmers to adopt practices that will benefit the environment, while also supporting the long-term sustainability of the agricultural industry in the United States.
Congressional Summary of HR 3939
Agriculture Environmental Stewardship Act of 2021
This bill allows energy tax credits through 2023 for investments in (1) qualified biogas property, or (2) qualified manure resource recovery property. The bill also permits new clean renewable energy bonds to be used for such properties.
Qualified biogas property comprises a system that (1) uses anaerobic digesters or other specified processes to convert biomass into a gas which is at least 52% methane, and (2) captures the gas for use as a fuel. The term includes property that cleans and conditions the gas for use as a fuel.
Qualified manure resource recovery property comprises a system that uses specified processes to recover the nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus from a non-treated digestate or animal manure by reducing or separating at least 50% of the nutrients, excluding any reductions during the incineration, storage, composting, or field application of the non-treated digestate or animal manure. The term also includes certain processing equipment.
The Department of the Treasury must enter into an agreement with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory for a study of biogas and report to Congress on the study.
