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Climate-Friendly Food Label Task Force Act
To establish an advisory panel to study the development of a climate- friendly certification for agricultural products, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill establishes an advisory panel, appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture, to study the development of a voluntary "climate-friendly" certification label for agricultural products, modeled after the existing USDA Organic certification. The panel will include scientists, environmental organizations, farming and food industry representatives, and officials from federal agencies including the USDA, EPA, CDC, FDA, and National Academy of Sciences. Within one year, the panel must submit a report recommending how a climate-friendly certification would measure greenhouse gas emissions on a lifecycle basis, water usage, land use effects, and any other relevant criteria, while using market-based approaches to encourage consumer choice. The USDA is prohibited from issuing any climate-friendly certification, regulations, or guidance for agricultural products until the panel's report is submitted to Congress and published on the USDA website. The bill aims to establish a framework similar to the successful organic certification program to incentivize agricultural producers to reduce their environmental impact.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Julia Brownley’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- NULL $9,600
- HAAS AUTOMATION $9,100
- SPARAGNA & SPARAGNA $6,600
- HACKMAN CAPITAL $6,600
- UNITED STAFFING ASSOCIATES $6,600
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Julia Brownley → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Jul 17, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture. · house
- Jul 17, 2025 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Text versions (1)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 17, 2025
Ms. Brownley introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture
A BILL
To establish an advisory panel to study the development of a climate- friendly certification for agricultural products, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Climate-Friendly Food Label Task Force Act”.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) 10 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions emitted by the United States come from the agricultural sector.
(2) Sustainable agricultural practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prevent deforestation will be critical to preventing the Earth from reaching 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer than pre-industrial levels, the threshold that would result in catastrophic climate-related effects.
(3) Improving the agricultural sector’s impact on the climate is a vital component of efforts by the U.S. to meet its contributions to the Paris Agreement.
(4) The USDA Organic label represents a successful model for using a voluntary, market-based approaches to driving innovation in the agricultural sector and successfully created a robust organic market in the United States.
(5) Market-based approaches like USDA Organic can spark significant economic benefits including jobs, and new, higher revenues for farmers.
(6) In 2021, organic farming totaled $11,200,000,000 in sales, created opportunity for 17,445 organic farms, and 28 percent of organic farmers planned to continue to grow their level or organic production. A similar voluntary, market-based approach to climate-friendly agricultural practices could create comparable economic benefits for farmers and workers.
SEC. 3. STUDY OF CLIMATE-FRIENDLY CERTIFICATION FOR AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS.
(a) Establishment.—There is established an advisory panel to carry out the study described in subsection (c).
(b) Members.—The advisory panel established under subsection (a) shall be composed of members appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture and shall include—
(1) representatives—
(A) that are scientists, including experts on climate science and nutrition science;
(B) of environmental advocacy organizations;
(C) of industry, including food manufacturing and farming; and
(D) of other stakeholders, as the Secretary of Agriculture determines appropriate; and
(2) at least one representative from each of the following:
(A) The Department of Agriculture.
(B) The Environmental Protection Agency.
(C) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
(D) The Food and Drug Administration.
(E) The National Academy of Sciences.
(F) Any other Federal agency the Secretary of Agriculture determines appropriate.
(c) Report Required.—Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the panel shall submit to the Secretary of Agriculture and Congress a report that includes—
(1) recommendations regarding the development of a climate- friendly certification for agricultural products that—
(A) moves agricultural producers toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions on a lifecycle basis; and
(B) uses market-based approaches that allows for greater consumer choice and education; and
(2) how such a certification would measure—
(A) the life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of agricultural products;
(B) the water usage in production of agricultural products;
(C) the land use effects of agricultural products; and
(D) any additional criteria the panel determines appropriate.
(d) Publication.—The Secretary of Agriculture shall make the report required under subsection (c) publicly available on the website of the Department of Agriculture.
(e) Moratorium on Use of Climate-Friendly Certification During Study.—The Secretary of Agriculture may not issue any regulations or guidance or otherwise certify or advertise any agricultural product as climate-friendly before the date on which the report required under subsection (c) is submitted to Congress. <all>
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