On Tuesday, April 19, NSAC responded to a request for comments by USDA on its intent to develop technical guidelines and methods to quantify greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and carbon sequestration for agricultural and forestry activities.

The 2008 Farm Bill directed USDA to prepare technical guidelines that outline methods to measure the carbon benefits from conservation and land management activities.  USDA intends to develop measurement methods and guidelines for various types of producers and conservation and production practices.

The Climate Change Program Office within the USDA Office of the Chief Economist will oversee the development of the guidelines, which will eventually be used by USDA to assess GHG emissions and carbon sequestration resulting from conservation programs and practices and evaluate and improve national and regional GHG inventory efforts.

Among our recommendations, we strongly encourage the Climate Change Program Office to engage stakeholders in an ongoing dialogue aimed at informing each step of the process.

Click here to read our full comment.  You can also download the original request for public comment here.