In December 2023, the Allegheny Forest Alliance (AFA) opposed the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) proposed Rule change (SR-NYSE-2023-09), which would have created a new listing class for Natural Asset Company (NAC) equities to be offered on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
The proposed Rule stated, “NACs will be corporations that hold the rights to the ecological performance (i.e., the value of natural assets and production of ecosystem services) produced by natural or working areas, such as national reserves or large-scale farmlands, and have the authority to manage the areas for conservation, restoration, or sustainable management. These rights can be licensed like other rights, including “run with the land” rights (such as mineral rights, water rights, or air rights), and NACs are expected to license these rights from sovereign nations or private landowners.”
This would have given NACs unprecedented control over the land/resource they license and, potentially, other adjacent land uses. Yet, government agencies were poised to enroll our public lands in NACs, viewing this as a revenue source and calling it “conservation” and necessary to combat climate change. The AFA believes it was an intentional sidestep of the legislative process and a dangerous vehicle for American land and resource control by private and foreign entities.
Communities that host public lands depend on Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT), which were not addressed in the SEC proposed Rule change. What it did say, was “In order to align the interests of local communities with the objectives of maximizing the value of natural assets and the production of ecosystem services, a NAC would also be able to use its funds for activities that support local community well-being (e.g., education, health), provided that such activities are sustainable” (emphasis added).
The concept is dangerous on many levels. Especially to communities who host public lands and are both dependent on and deeply invested in how those lands are managed – financially, economically, and environmentally.
The Allegheny Forest Alliance opposed this Rule for several reasons and submitted a comment letter to the SEC, along with 3,985 other organizations, individuals, state and federal legislators, and county and state elected officials (commissioners, treasurers and attorneys general).
State Representative Kathy Rapp and State Senator Scott Hutchinson also filed opposition letters, and State Treasurer Stacey Garrity signed a joint letter by 22 State Treasurers requesting a comment period extension. Rep. Harriet Hageman of Wyoming attempted (unsuccessfully) to defund the SEC’s proposed Rule, then wrote a letter to the SEC signed by 31 members of Congress (including Rep. Glenn Thompson) requesting a comment period extension and answers to several probing questions.
We are pleased to report that the SEC withdrew the proposed Rule change on January 17, 2024 due to the considerable opposition. If you submitted a comment opposing the NAC Rule, thank you for standing up and speaking up!
Unfortunately, it’s unlikely we have seen the last of this issue. Our contacts are saying that the IEG has changed the language it’s using, and is now working on gaining the agricultural sector’s support. And other federal agencies are also working to put mechanisms in place to achieve the same dangerous agenda.
We will continue to monitor this issue and issue email alerts, so be sure we have your email address.