Tester Delivers Win for Montana Farmers & Ranchers by Successfully Cutting Burdensome Federal Reporting Requirements

Senator fought for years to kill Biden Administration’s SEC Scope 3 ‘climate disclosure rule’ provisions that would create burdensome paperwork and bureaucracy for family farmers and ranchers;

Following consistent pressure from Tester, SEC today finalized a rule that removes the Scope 3 requirements entirely

Following continued pressure by U.S. Senator Jon Tester, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced today that they will completely eliminate their proposed Scope 3 requirements in their ‘climate disclosure rule’ that would have created burdensome federal reporting requirements for family farmers and ranchers. Tester repeatedly made it clear to SEC Chair Gary Gensler that these burdensome reporting requirements would not work for Montana and successfully ensured they were stripped from the SEC’s final rule.

“Montanans sent me to the Senate to stand up for rural America and to push back against burdensome regulations from Washington, D.C. that don’t work for our state,” said Tester. “I know first-hand that there is more than enough work to go around on a family farm like mine, from fixing up my combine to dealing with a lack of moisture, so the last thing family farmers need is for big corporations or the federal government to force them to fill out piles of unnecessary paperwork. I’m proud to have declared this requirement dead on arrival and to have fought every step of the way to stop it in its tracks so that our farmers can continue to focus on what’s important: feeding the world.” 

The Montana Farm Bureau Federation and the American Farm Bureau Federation thanked Tester for his leadership in cutting burdensome reporting requirements from the SEC’s final rule:

“We applaud Senator Tester’s persistence and tenacity in working with the SEC to make sure the Climate Reporting Rule was finalized in a way that protects Montana’s farmers and ranchers from unnecessary and useless paperwork,” said Cyndi Johnson, a small grains farmer from Conrad and President of the Montana Farm Bureau Federation. “He asked all the right questions of the SEC, persisted with pointed letters, and made the case for why an entity with oversight of massive, publicly traded companies should not meddle in the business of family farms and ranches. We thank Senator Tester for listening to our concerns and being a strong voice for farmers throughout this incredibly important process.”

“Over the past two years, farm families voiced their concerns on the consequences of an overreaching Scope 3 requirement,” said Zippy Duvall, President of the American Farm Bureau Federation. “Sen. Tester listened and stepped up to ensure the climate disclosure rule protected America’s small farmers and ranchers, who could have been squeezed out of the food supply chain. We thank him for his leadership to remove Scope 3 so farmers can continue to focus on keeping America’s pantries stocked.”

As the only working dirt farmer in the U.S. Senate, Tester has been Montana’s leading champion for family farmers and ranchers and has repeatedly worked to make sure the SEC would not hit them with onerous reporting requirements. 

In January, Tester sent a letter to SEC Chair Gensler reiterating his concerns that the agency’s proposed “climate disclosure rule” could lead to burdensome paperwork and bureaucracy for Montana family farmers and ranchers.

Last year, Tester pressed SEC Chair Gary Gensler during a Senate Banking Committee hearing about his concerns regarding the agency’s “climate disclosure rule.” Tester also pressed Gensler during an earlier hearing in 2022, where he received a commitment from the Chairman that the rule would not include requirements for producers to report information to the SEC, and that public companies would be able to use an estimate and the government not require the companies to collect any additional information from suppliers like family farmers and ranchers.