Number: RL34042
Title: Environmental Services Markets in the 2008 Fram Bill
Authors: Renée Johnson, Resources, Science, and Industry Division 
Abstract: The enacted 2008 farm bill (P.L. 110-234, the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008) contains a new conservation provision that seeks to facilitate the participation of farmers and landowners in environmental services markets by directing USDA to develop technical guidelines for measuring farm- and forestrybased environmental services. This provision focuses first on carbon storage and indirectly references various agriculture and forestry provisions in some legislative initiatives that are being considered as part of the broader climate change debate, which have highlighted the perceived need for uniform standards and ways of measuring emissions reduction and increases in carbon storage in the agriculture and forestry sectors. These types of provisions could expand the scope of existing landbased conservation programs and facilitate the development of private-sector markets for a range of environmental goods and services from farmers and landowners.
Pages: 10
Date: June 10, 2008