Lucas bill says ‘No’ to proposed climate disclosure rule for farmers, ranchers

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reporting rules proposed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) would hamper America’s farmers and ranchers, says U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK), who recently proposed legislation offering them specific protections.

The congressman said he was proud to introduce legislation to ensure the SEC doesn’t take action that leads to burdensome reporting requirements for family farmers and ranchers when their products become a part of the supply chain for a publicly traded company.

The SEC in March 2022 proposed a climate disclosure rule that would require registrants to include certain climate-related disclosures in their registration statements and periodic reports, including information about climate-related risks that are reasonably likely to have a material impact on their business, results of operations, or financial condition, and certain climate-related financial statement metrics in a note to their audited financial statements, according to the proposed rule. 

The required information about climate-related risks also would include disclosure of a registrant’s GHG emissions, which have become a commonly used metric to assess a registrant’s exposure to such risks, the proposed rule says.

Rep. Lucas on Tuesday led 55 Republicans in introducing the Protect Farmers from the SEC Act, H.R. 1018, which would prohibit the SEC from requiring an issuer to disclose information related to certain GHG emissions, according to the congressional record bill summary.

“America’s family farmers and ranchers face many challenges in the marketplace as they work to produce more commodities while using fewer resources. The SEC’s efforts to use financial regulation to implement a climate agenda would hinder the ability of American farmers and ranchers to compete in global markets and create onerous compliance requirements for operations with few or no employees,” Rep. Lucas said on Feb. 13. 

“Nevertheless, federal securities laws already require publicly traded companies to disclose material risks to investors, the SEC’s ill-advised climate disclosure rule undermines the materiality standard for environmental policy purposes,” he said.

H.R. 1018 is supported by the American Farm Bureau, the National Pork Producers Council, the National Cotton Council, USA Rice, the American Soybean Association, the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association, the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives and the National Potato Council.

In September 2022, Rep. Lucas originally unveiled the same-named H.R. 9063, which garnered support from 121 cosponsors but stalled in the U.S. House Financial Services Committee.