S. 1251: Growing Climate Solutions Act of 2021

Bill · 117th Congress (2021–2022). Passed Senate, 24 Jun 2021. Introduced 20 Apr 2021.

Official title: A bill to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to develop a program to reduce barriers to entry for farmers, ranchers, and private forest landowners in certain voluntary markets, and for other purposes.

Vote results

Senate, 24 Jun 2021: Bill Passed, 92 Yea, 8 Nay, 0 Present, 0 Not voting. The Senate’s roll call
President: Not presented to the President.

How each member voted

Senate

Yea (92): Chuck Grassley (R-IA); Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT); Richard C. Shelby (R-AL); Charles E. Schumer (D-NY); Ron Wyden (D-OR); Richard J. Durbin (D-IL); Mitch McConnell (R-KY); Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD); Thomas R. Carper (D-DE); Jack Reed (D-RI); Dianne Feinstein (D-CA); Sherrod Brown (D-OH); Mike Crapo (R-ID); Patty Murray (D-WA); Robert Menendez (D-NJ); Richard Burr (R-NC); Lindsey Graham (R-SC); Roger F. Wicker (R-MS); Roy Blunt (R-MO); Susan M. Collins (R-ME); Jerry Moran (R-KS); Debbie Stabenow (D-MI); Tammy Baldwin (D-WI); Maria Cantwell (D-WA); John Thune (R-SD); Rob Portman (R-OH); Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV); John Boozman (R-AR); John Cornyn (R-TX); Lisa Murkowski (R-AK); Marsha Blackburn (R-TN); Chris Van Hollen (D-MD); Patrick J. Toomey (R-PA); Robert P. Casey, Jr. (D-PA); Kirsten E. Gillibrand (D-NY); Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI); Amy Klobuchar (D-MN); Christopher Murphy (D-CT); Jon Tester (D-MT); Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI); John Barrasso (R-WY); Bill Cassidy (R-LA); Martin Heinrich (D-NM); Ben Ray Luján (D-NM); Gary C. Peters (D-MI); James E. Risch (R-ID); Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH); Mark R. Warner (D-VA); Michael F. Bennet (D-CO); Christopher A. Coons (D-DE); Joe Manchin, III (D-WV); Richard Blumenthal (D-CT); John Hoeven (R-ND); Ron Johnson (R-WI); James Lankford (R-OK); Rand Paul (R-KY); Marco Rubio (R-FL); Tim Scott (R-SC); Todd Young (R-IN); Brian Schatz (D-HI); Tom Cotton (R-AR); Kevin Cramer (R-ND); Ted Cruz (R-TX); Steve Daines (R-MT); Tammy Duckworth (D-IL); Deb Fischer (R-NE); Tim Kaine (D-VA); Angus S. King, Jr. (I-ME); Cynthia M. Lummis (R-WY); Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ); Joni Ernst (R-IA); Mike Rounds (R-SD); Ben Sasse (R-NE); Dan Sullivan (R-AK); Thom Tillis (R-NC); Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV); Margaret Wood Hassan (D-NH); John Kennedy (R-LA); Roger Marshall (R-KS); Jacky Rosen (D-NV); Tina Smith (D-MN); Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS); Mike Braun (R-IN); Mitt Romney (R-UT); Rick Scott (R-FL); Mark Kelly (D-AZ); Bill Hagerty (R-TN); John W. Hickenlooper (D-CO); Tommy Tuberville (R-AL); Jon Ossoff (D-GA); Alex Padilla (D-CA); Raphael G. Warnock (D-GA).

Nay (8): Edward J. Markey (D-MA); James M. Inhofe (R-OK); Bernard Sanders (I-VT); Jeff Merkley (D-OR); Mike Lee (R-UT); Elizabeth Warren (D-MA); Cory A. Booker (D-NJ); Josh Hawley (R-MO).

Not in office (2): Kamala D. Harris (D-CA); Kelly Loeffler (R-GA).

Summary

Main subject: Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to establish, under stated conditions, a voluntary program that certifies technical assistance providers and third-party verifiers serving farmers, ranchers, and private forest landowners in voluntary environmental credit markets. Sec. 2

Its core areas: Certification of greenhouse gas technical assistance providers and third-party verifiers; Protocols and qualifications for voluntary environmental credit markets; Advisory council for the certification program; Civil penalties for false certification claims and fraudulent submissions; Assessments and reports on voluntary environmental credit markets; Program funding and rescission of American Rescue Plan Act funds.

Unexpected Items: 0 provisions

What it does

Sec. 2: Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to establish the voluntary certification program 270 days after enactment, only if the Secretary determines it will further the stated purposes, and to publish a report giving reasons if the program is not established.
Sec. 2: Requires the Secretary to publish a list of recognized protocols and descriptions of qualifications for covered entities, and allows covered entities to self-certify through a Department website.
Sec. 2: Requires the Secretary to establish an Advisory Council of appointed members, at least 51 percent of them farmers, ranchers, or private forest landowners, who serve without compensation and recommend changes to the protocols and qualifications.
Sec. 2: Prohibits uncertified persons from knowingly claiming to be USDA-certified and prohibits submitting fraudulent information, with a civil penalty not to exceed $1,000 per violation and 5 years of ineligibility to certify.
Sec. 2: Requires the Secretary to complete and publish an assessment of voluntary environmental credit markets within 240 days of enactment, repeat it every 4 years, and publish program reports every 2 years.
Sec. 2: Authorizes $1,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026, rescinds $4,100,000 of unobligated funds under section 1003 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, and appropriates $4,100,000 to the Secretary if the full rescission can be executed.

Written automatically from the official text by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model. Written 15 Oct 2026 and published after the automatic checks, without a person reading it first. Every line names the section it came from.