Date:

Introduced in 2019
Re-introduced January 2020
Passed the House and Senate with amendments March 2020 Signed by Governor April 3, 2020
Effective date June 11, 2020

Legislation:

SB 5947/ HB 2095

Sponsors:

Senator McCoy
Senator Schoesler
Senator Palumbo
Senator King
Senator Salomon
Senator Warnick
Representative Walsh
Representative Shewmake
Representative Dye
Representative Springer
Representative Shea
Representative Peterson
Representative Chapman
Representative Fitzgibbon
Representative Eslick
Representative Corry

Agencies Involved:

• Overseen by the Department of Agriculture and the Washington State Conservation Commission (SCC) 
• The Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR)
• Washington Natural Resources Conservation Service 

Rule Making Processes:

The Department of Agriculture will build out this program in consultation with Washington State University, the State Conservation Commission, the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service, and State Department of Natural Resources.  

Description:

The Bill was conceived as a means to help farmers become more profitable while achieving Washington’s climate action goals. It creates a grant program to incentivize farmers and ranchers to reduce fossil fuel inputs and increase sequestered carbon. 

The WA Department of Agriculture, in consultation with Washington State University, the State Conservation Commission, the NRCS, and the Washington Department of Natural Resources must create a system to estimate, measure, and verify outcomes for the sustainable farms and fields grant program. 

The Bill requires that 80% of the funds go directly to producers in the form of grants for farming processes that reduce emissions, increase organic matter, and build healthy soils. The remaining funding covers educational campaigns and technical assistance to grant applicants.

Soil Health Definitions:

Carbon dioxide equivalent emission

“A metric measure used to compare the emission impacts from various greenhouse gases based on their relative radiative forcing effect over a specified period of time compared to carbon dioxide emissions.”

Carbon dioxide equivalent impact

“A metric measure of the cumulative radiative forcing impacts of both carbon dioxide equivalent emissions and the radiative forcing benefits of carbon storage.”

Stated Goals:

• To enhance soil health by adopting precision agriculture and regenerative agriculture practices that increase soil organic carbon levels, and to store carbon in standing trees.
• To provide financial assistance to voluntary farmers and ranchers who adopt practices that reduce fossil fuel inputs in their operations and increase the quantity of carbon stored on their land.

Program Required Measurements:

• Biennial report to the legislature and the Governor, prepared by the commission.
• Public

Tools & Guidance:

• The Bill specifies that funding be made available to develop tools to help farmers implement grants.
• The bill directs the commission in consultation with the universities to “evaluate and update the most appropriate carbon equivalency metric to apply to the sustainable farms and fields grant program”.
  

Founding Source/s:

Unspecified in the Bill but expected to come from the General Fund. 

Funding Type/s:

N/A

Practices Eligible for Funding:

• Efficiency measures that reduce the quantities of fuel, electrical, fertilizer, pesticide, or water inputs 
• Regenerative agricultural practice such as:
  • No-till
  • Cover-cropping 
  • Manure 
  • Biochar additions
  • Integrating trees into management
• Agroforestry
• Carbon farming

Practices include, but are not limited to

• Cover cropping;
• No-till and 13 minimum tillage conservation practices;
• Crop rotations, manure 14 application;
• Biochar application;
• Compost application;
• Changes in grazing management;
• Increasing the quantity of organic carbon in aquatic soils;
• integrating trees, shrubs, seaweed, or other vegetation into management of agricultural and aquacultural lands;
• Reducing or avoiding carbon dioxide equivalent emissions in or from soils;
• Reducing nitrous oxide and methane emissions through changes to livestock or soil management;
• Increasing the usage of precision agricultural practices.

Projects that benefit waterways, fish and wildlife habitat are being prioritized.

• The Bill initially had substantial bipartisan support and moved through the Senate, but was held up in the House due to stakeholder opposition. While farmers broadly supported the bill, the Farm Bureau and the Potato Commission opposed the bill, citing concerns over competition for funding with the Voluntary Stewardship Program.  
• The climate change language written into the Bill was its most contentious point.  

House Committee:

Senate Committee:

Washington State University, Organic Farming Systems and Nutrient Management; “Current and past experiments include the Organic Farming Systems experiment, cover crop trials, climate change gas experiments, food safety, pastured poultry, and improving no-till and minimum tillage methods.” (Land-grant university)

American Farmland Trust 

Washington Association of Conservation Districts (WACD)

115 farms and organizations signed a joint letter of support, including:

Wilcox Farms

Carbon Washington

Taylor Shellfish Farms

Tilth Alliance

The William D. Ruckelshaus Center 

The Washington Farm Bureau 

The Nature Conservancy 

The Washington Cattlemen’s Association 

Washington Association of Wheat Growers

Washington Farmer Veterans Coalition

Washington State Dairy Federation

Washington Young Farmer Coalition

Bipartisan Group of Legislators Backs Sustainable-Farm Bill (Carbon Washington)

Op-ed: The Climate Bill with Bipartisan Support (Washington State Wire)

FARMING TO HELP THE CLIMATE: TWO BILLS IN OLYMPIA PROMOTE “REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE, Investigate West 02/20/2020

Stakeholders Unite To Support Sustainable Farms and Fields, Carbon Washington 02/10/2020