Grassley, Colleagues Urge SEC To Rescind Proposed Regulations That Would Substantially Burden Ag Producers

Press Release

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, today joined Sens. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.) to push back on a proposed rule from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which would place unworkable climate disclosure regulations on farmers, ranchers and agriculture producers. In a letter to the SEC, the senators call on the commission to rescind the overreaching proposal, which would require publicly-traded companies to include certain climate-related disclosures in their registration statements and periodic reports.

Specifically, the rule would impose new, complex and burdensome greenhouse gas reporting requirements on all entities within a company's value chain, including farmers and ranchers who fall outside of the SEC's congressionally-provided authority.

"We have serious concerns regarding the SEC's regulatory overreach, as well as the impact that this proposed rule will have on the agricultural industry," the senators wrote. "This substantial reporting requirement would significantly burden small, family-owned farms with a new, complex and unreasonable compliance requirement, resulting in costly additional compliance expenses, reduced access to new business opportunities, and potential consolidation in the agriculture industry."

"This proposed rule moves well beyond the SEC's traditional regulatory authority by mandating climate change reporting requirements that will not only regulate publicly traded companies, but will impact every company in the value chain. Should the SEC move forward with this rule, it would be granted unprecedented jurisdiction over America's farms and ranches, creating an impractical regulatory burden for thousands of businesses outside of the scope of the SEC's purview, including our nation's farmers and ranchers," the senators concluded.

The letter was also signed by Sens. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), James Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), James Lankford (R-Okla.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), John Boozman (R-Ark.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.).

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