Natural Resources Conservation Service November 2022 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) requests public input for NRCS to use to inform how NRCS will implement funds received under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to fund the deployment of climate-smart practices on US farms, ranches, and forestlands through four Farm Bill conservation programs. NRCS is also requesting input on funding to quantify carbon sequestration and carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide emissions at the field scale. NRCS is specifically interested in public input and recommendations that NRCS can use to improve, expand, and/or build on scientifically-designed quantification systems to monitor and quantify improvements in soil carbon, reductions in nitrogen losses, and the reduction, capture, avoidance, or sequestration of carbon dioxide, methane, or nitrous oxide emissions, associated with agricultural production. In implementing the IRA, NRCS is interested in supporting program implementation and improving program delivery by effectively leveraging partners to increase outreach and expand access to underserved producers. This effort will help NRCS identify and prioritize process improvements for the delivery of funding made available under IRA and the overall administration of the NRCS conservation programs. NRCS will look to identify immediate changes that can be implemented for funding available for fiscal year (FY) 2023 and will continue to identify and adopt additional changes in future years.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will hold a public meeting of the Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production Advisory Committee (UAIPAC). UAIPAC will convene to discuss interim recommendations for the Secretary of Agriculture on the development of policies and outreach relating to urban, indoor, and other emerging agriculture production practices. UAIPAC is authorized under the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill) and operates in compliance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended.