On Wednesday, November 20th, Representative Harriet Hageman (R-WY) filed H.R. 10156, repealing the SUSTAINS Act. The Act allows outside donors to fund federal conservation programs that then allow them to “own” environmental service benefits on private property.
Hageman said in a press release, the SUSTAINS Act is “a misguided law empowering non-governmental actors to exercise authority over USDA conservation programs while pushing the 30×30 agenda’s use of natural capital accounting for evaluating the value of private lands.”
She goes on to say: “As the Biden-Harris Administration continues to roll out the SUSTAINS Act, we must ensure it is not a means to advance the radical concept of natural capital accounting as applied to our private property rights. I support the right to voluntarily enter into conservation agreements with the USDA and understand the value of allowing conservation driven entities to donate to advance the scope of these efforts.
“The SUSTAINS Act, however, is a substantial departure from this system, empowering the outside organizations or individuals to direct federal programs and prescribe the terms for their share of the environmental service benefits developed on the land in which they invest. This new concept poses a serious risk to private property rights and encourages bad actors to weaponize conservation to lock up the productive use of lands in the name of climate change.”
Congress has long authorized USDA to accept private dollars to pair with mandatory government spending for conservation programs. This helps extend conservation opportunities to more Americans in a fiscally responsible manner.
However, Speaker Pelosi gave a parting gift to the Biden-Harris Administration’s natural capital strategy in the SUSTAINS Act to disrupt this system in favor of the donating entities who now can invest in priorities like climate change and own environmental service benefits derived from the land, a staple of natural capital accounting. This bill simply restores the statute to the pre-Pelosi era to protect private property rights.
Co-Sponsor H.R. 10156, File Senate Companion
Ask your congressman to co-sponsor H.R. 10156 and ask your U.S. Senator to file a companion bill in the Senate.
In October, Congresswoman Hageman, along with Senators Michael Lee (R-UT), John Barrasso, M.D. (R-WY), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) signed a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service demanding clarification of the Act and how they intend to implement the law.
The conservation programs affected by the SUSTAINS Act include the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP), and Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP).
The concern is how actively their constituents (landowners) are being solicited to apply for these programs, as well as other conservation programs, with no clarity on whether or how the SUSTAINS Act will apply to them.
