SOS for Seedlings Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2562 To address the nationwide shortage of tree seedlings, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 15, 2021 Mr. BENTZ (for himself, Mr. WESTERMAN, Mr. NEWHOUSE, and Mr. GOSAR) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ag- riculture A BILL To address the nationwide shortage of tree seedlings, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Solving Our Shortages 4 for Seedlings Act’’ or the ‘‘SOS for Seedlings Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. SEEDLING STRATEGY. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 7 date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary of Ag- 8 riculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service, 9 shall develop and implement a national strategy to in- 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:56 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2562.IH H2562 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2562 IH crease the capacity of Federal, State, Tribal, and private 1 nurseries to address the nationwide shortage of tree seed- 2 lings. 3 (b) ELEMENTS.—The strategy required under sub- 4 section (a) shall— 5 (1) be based on the best available science and 6 data; and 7 (2) identify and address— 8 (A) regional seedling shortages of bareroot 9 and container tree seedlings; 10 (B) regional reforestation opportunities 11 and the seedling supply necessary to fulfill such 12 opportunities; 13 (C) opportunities to enhance seedling di- 14 versity and close gaps in seed inventories; and 15 (D) barriers to expanding, enhancing, or 16 creating new infrastructure to increase nursery 17 capacity. 18 SEC. 3. FEDERAL NURSERIES. 19 Section 2 of the Act of June 9, 1930 (16 U.S.C. 20 576a; commonly known as the ‘‘Knutson-Vandenberg 21 Act’’), is amended by striking ‘‘each fiscal year after year 22 ending June 30, 1934, not to exceed $400,000,’’ and in- 23 serting ‘‘each of fiscal years 2021 through 2030, 24 $25,000,000,’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:56 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2562.IH H2562 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2562 IH SEC. 4. LOAN PROGRAM FOR STATE, TRIBAL, AND PRIVATE 1 NURSERIES. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture shall 3 carry out a loan program to make or guarantee qualified 4 nursery loans to eligible entities under this section. 5 (b) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a quali- 6 fied nursery loan or loan guarantee under this section, an 7 eligible entity shall submit to the Secretary of Agriculture 8 an application at such time, in such manner, and con- 9 taining such information as the Secretary may require, in- 10 cluding a plan to maintain the genetic and physical quality 11 of seedlings of the eligible entity. 12 (c) PRIORITY.—In making qualified nursery loans or 13 loan guarantees under this section, the Secretary of Agri- 14 culture shall give priority to eligible entities that— 15 (1) are small businesses, in particular small 16 businesses located in rural areas; 17 (2) create or support jobs, particularly in rural 18 areas; and 19 (3) serve regions with high demand for reforest- 20 ation. 21 (d) QUALIFIED NURSERY PROJECT.—A loan or loan 22 guarantee under this section may only be used to carry 23 out a qualified nursery project to— 24 (1) develop, expand, enhance, or improve nurs- 25 ery capacity or infrastructure; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:56 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2562.IH H2562 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2562 IH (2) establish nurseries; or 1 (3) develop or implement quality control meas- 2 ures at nurseries. 3 (e) LOAN AND LOAN GUARANTEE TERMS.— 4 (1) AMOUNT GUARANTEED.—The portion of a 5 loan that the Secretary of Agriculture may guar- 6 antee under this section may not be greater than 80 7 percent of the principal amount of such loan. 8 (2) REPAYMENT.—The period of repayment for 9 a loan made under this section shall not exceed 20 10 years. 11 (f) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.— 12 (1) LIMITATION ON AUTHORITY.—The total 13 amount of qualified nursery loans made or guaran- 14 teed under this section by the Secretary may not ex- 15 ceed $1,000,000,000. 16 (2) DISTRIBUTION.—The Secretary shall en- 17 sure, to the maximum extent practicable, that loans 18 made or guaranteed under this section are distrib- 19 uted across diverse geographic regions. 20 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 21 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 22 ty’’ means— 23 (A) a State, Tribal, or local government; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:56 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2562.IH H2562 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2562 IH (B) a domestic private, non-profit, or coop- 1 erative organization. 2 (2) NURSERY.—The term ‘‘ ‘nursery’’ means a 3 State, Tribal, or local government or private owned 4 facility that grows, stores, extracts, or monitors 5 bareroot or container tree seedlings. 6 (3) QUALIFIED NURSERY LOAN.—The term 7 ‘‘qualified nursery loan’’ means a low-interest loan, 8 the proceeds of which are used to cover the costs to 9 the borrower of carrying out a qualified nursery 10 project described in subsection (d). 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:56 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2562.IH H2562 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS