Enacting effective agricultural legislation requires access to extensive economic, scientific, and practical knowledge. States can establish agricultural “bodies,” including task forces or working groups, to attain the appropriate background information and lay the groundwork for building and initiating comprehensive carbon sequestration and soil health policy. Task forces typically consist of members from state agencies and departments relating to agriculture, land and natural resources, and environmental health, as well as producers, experts, and regional representatives from academia, agribusiness, and environmental organizations. Their responsibilities often include the identification of agricultural best practices in the given state’s geographic, climatic, and geological context.

These best practices are typically outlined in a report or “Action Plan” outlining policy options a state can employ. Upon the action plan’s presentation to the state legislature and/or governor, these bodies may be disbanded. 

Some states, like Oregon, may hire a specialist in their Department of Agriculture to provide in-house soil health expertise and fulfill similar objectives to task forces. Duties include collaborating with state agencies, researchers, and farmers; building relationships with other states with enacted programs; pursuing funding; coordinating training and education initiatives; and ultimately, developing strategies and recommendations for implementation of soil health legislation in their state.

Key Resources

• Izaak Walton League of America — State & Local Soil Health Strategies 
• National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition — Agriculture and Climate Change: Policy Imperatives and Opportunities to Help Producers Meet the Challenge
• Sabin Center for Climate Change Law — Incorporation of Climate Action Reserve Nitrogen Management Project Protocol 2.0 into State Law and Policy

Model Rules

• Sabin Center for Climate Change Law — LPDD Model State Healthy Soils Legislation: A menu-based model legislation template of best practices in existing healthy soils legislation from around the country
• Sabin Center for Climate Change Law — LPDD Model Healthy Soils Bill for Establishing State N20 Management Standards: establishes a framework for state-level implementation vs. local-level implementation of N20 management standards

State Examples

• Nebraska LB.243 (2019) — The Healthy Soils Task Force, which was responsible for developing a Healthy Soils Initiative for the state, and an action plan.
• Washington Soil Health Roadmap (2023) — In 2018, the Washington State Legislature provided funding to Washington State University to understand the current issues of soil health, barriers to adoption of soil health promoting practices, and to identify goals and milestones all to set a detailed plan to maintain and improve soil health. This process resulted in the Washington State Soil Health Roadmap.
• Minnesota HF 3420 (2022) – Requires the Commissioner of Agriculture to develop a healthy soils management plan by December 2023

States may allocate funding towards financial incentive and grant programs supporting regenerative practices. Commonly paired with other forms of state assistance, these programs encourage and facilitate the voluntary adoption and continued practice of environmentally beneficial farming methods. Incentives may include reduced crop insurance premiums, property tax exemptions, or direct financial assistance through grants or cost-share programs. Another form of financial assistance is providing per-acre rewards from available state funding to farmers who employ soil health practices.

Targeted practices are those which have been identified — often by organizations, state agencies, or task forces — to promote soil health, water quality, biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and, ultimately, crop yields. 

Common soil health practices include:

• Conservation tillage, or minimizing the frequency of the harmful tillage operations that erode soil and release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
• Planting cover crops, or plants that are planted to cover the soil rather than for the purpose of being harvested. These crops, also known as “green manures”, manage soil erosion and provide organic matter and nutrients. Beans, peas, oats, wheat, and rye are all examples of cover crops.
• Crop rotation, or planting different crops sequentially on the same land in order to improve soil health and maximize nutrient sequestration. Maximizing biodiversity has numerous environmental benefits.
• Minimizing the use of chemicals and fertilizers in order to reduce long-term damage to soil health. Half of U.S. agricultural emissions are related to synthetic fertilizers and manure, with most of these emissions coming from nitrous oxide.

Key Resources

• Environmental Defense Fund — Innovative State-Led Efforts to Finance Agricultural Conservation 
• Marin Resource Conservation District — Carbon Farm Planning
• Earthjustice — State Soil Health Initiatives: Building Momentum
• Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture — Organic Transition Planner
• Environmental Defense Fund — Agricultural Soil Carbon Credits
• NCEL — Soil Health

Model Rules

• Sabin Center for Climate Change Law — LPDD Model State Healthy Soils Legislation: A menu-based model legislation template of best practices in existing healthy soils legislation from around the country

State Examples

• California Healthy Soils Program — A collaboration of state agencies and departments to promote the development of healthy soils on California’s farmlands and ranch lands.
• California SB 1028 (proposed in 2020) — Would have established and created the California Environmental Farming Incentive Program to support on-farm practices that optimize environmental benefits while economically supporting agriculture through incentives, education and outreach. This program also would have funded on-farm demonstration projects.
• Utah H.B. 296 (2021) — Creates the Utah Soil Health Program
• Washington’s Sustainable Farms and Fields Grant Program — Provides 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.
• New York’s proposed Carbon Farming Act — Would establish a tax credit for farmers who maximize carbon sequestration potential through a “carbon farming” land management strategy.
• Vermont S160 and H525 (2019) — Requiring a state agency to recommend financial incentives for farmers to improve soil health, and establishing multiple assistance programs to support regenerative farming practices and improve soil quality.

State-provided technical assistance and educational opportunities help ensure the successful on-farm implementation of best practices. Through these programs, farmers are familiarized with soil health best practices and state incentive programs, and are assisted by those with experience in regenerative farming. State-produced educational materials and workshops can be made available to funding recipients, and experiential knowledge can also be shared through apprentice/mentorship programs and networks. Technical assistance and farmer education programs can help to raise awareness about state-funded programs, and ensure regenerative agriculture practices are widely used.

Key Resources

• Earthjustice — State Soil Health Initiatives: Building Momentum

Model Rules

• Sabin Center for Climate Change Law — LPDD Model State Healthy Soils Legislation: A menu-based model legislation template of best practices in existing healthy soils legislation from around the country

State Examples

• Washington SB 6306 – Soil Health Initiative (2020) — Promotes collaborative research, education, demonstration projects, and technical assistance activities designed to identify, promote, and implement soil health stewardship practices. Technical assistance capacity may come through training and on-farm demonstration projects.
• Utah HB 296 – Soil Health Program under Conservation Commission (2021) — Encourages widespread adoption of soil health practices by producers, promotes environmental benefits, and advances the understanding of the environmental and economic benefits of soil health practices.
• New Mexico SB 204 – Healthy Soil Act (2019) — Includes financial assistance or assistance with project planning, project design, grant applications, project implementation or project reporting; contribute to healthy soils and includes a soil and water conservation district; sponsoring soil health workshops and training sessions at research centers and learning sites throughout the state

• Maryland SB 1063 – Healthy Soils Program (2017) — Provide incentives, including research education technical assistance and financial assistance to farmers to implement farm management practices that contribute to healthy soils

Organic food waste, primarily food scraps, are often thrown away and ultimately decompose in landfills, releasing methane and potentially polluting waterways. Composting is an effective method of recycling organic waste, keeping it out of landfills and allowing it to generate value, as compost can be used to sustainably fertilize crop lands. 

To reduce the amount of food sent to landfills, and, as a result, become the source of greenhouse gas emissions, states may pass food waste bans or waste recycling laws. These policies prohibit certain entities that generate specified amounts of food waste from sending this waste to landfills, subject to exceptions. These typically apply to commercial businesses and larger institutions, although some apply to residential food waste as well. Setting food waste reduction targets is another policy option states can implement to ensure more food is kept out of landfills and donated or composted instead.

Key Resources

• ReFED — Food Waste Solutions Database 
• ReFED — Solutions to Strengthen Food Rescue
• Sabin Center for Climate Change Law — Bans and Beyond: Designing and Implementing Organic Waste Bans and Mandatory Organics Recycling Laws

Model Rules

• Sabin Center for Climate Change Law — LPDD Model State Legislation Supporting Sustainable Management of Food Waste targets individuals producing food residuals, and establishes state policies for the reduction of food residuals, residuals’ diversion for consumption, and composting.
• Sabin Center for Climate Change Law — LPDD Model Law: State Law to Divert Food Waste from Landfills: model state legislation lays out a framework by which states can divert food waste from landfills to eligible processing facilities (including industrial-scale composters) or onsite composters.
• U.S. Composting Council — Model Compost Rule Template

State Examples

• Washington State HB 1799 (2022) — Sets a food taste reduction target of 75% by 2030, up from a previous reduction target of 50%, relative to 2015 levels.
• Massachusetts Commercial Organic Waste Ban — “Commercial organic material” is barred from entering solid waste disposal streams.
• Vermont’s Universal Recycling Law — Bans food waste, including from households, from disposal in trash and landfills on July 1, 2020.
• Connecticut’s Composting Requirements — Requires that food wholesalers, manufacturers, grocery stores, and conference centers located within 20 miles of a composting facility must source separate organic materials and ensure they are composted.