SUSTAINS Act

IB Union Calendar No. 259 117TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 2606 [Report No. 117–345] To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 with respect to the acceptance and use of contributions for public-private partnerships, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 15, 2021 Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania (for himself, Mr. FEENSTRA, Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota, Mr. BAIRD, and Mr. CRAWFORD) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture JUNE 3, 2022 Additional sponsors: Ms. STEFANIK and Mr. BACON JUNE 3, 2022 Reported from the Committee on Agriculture; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:04 Jun 03, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H2606.RH H2606 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2606 RH A BILL To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 with respect to the acceptance and use of contributions for public-private partnerships, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:04 Jun 03, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H2606.RH H2606 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2606 RH 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 ‘‘Sponsoring USDA 4 Sustainability Targets in Agriculture to Incentivize Nat- 5 ural Solutions Act of 2021’’, or the ‘‘SUSTAINS Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. ACCEPTANCE AND USE OF CONTRIBUTIONS FOR 7 PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS. 8 Section 1241(f) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 9 U.S.C. 3841(f)) is amended— 10 (1) in the subsection heading, by inserting 11 ‘‘FOR PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS’’ after 12 ‘‘CONTRIBUTIONS’’; 13 (2) by amending paragraph (1) to read as fol- 14 lows: 15 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY TO ESTABLISH PUBLIC-PRI- 16 VATE PARTNERSHIP CONTRIBUTIONS ACCOUNTS.— 17 The Secretary, acting through the Natural Re- 18 sources Conservation Service, may establish a sub- 19 account for each covered program to accept con- 20 tributions of non-Federal funds for the purposes of 21 addressing the changing climate, sequestering car- 22 bon, improving wildlife habitat, protecting sources of 23 drinking water, and addressing other natural re- 24 source priorities identified by the Secretary.’’; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:04 Jun 03, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2606.RH H2606 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2606 RH (3) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘a conserva- 1 tion program administered by the Secretary under 2 subtitle D’’ and inserting ‘‘a covered program’’; and 3 (4) by adding at the end the following: 4 ‘‘(3) MATCH OF CONTRIBUTED FUNDS.—The 5 Secretary may provide matching funds for contribu- 6 tions received under this subsection, subject to the 7 availability of funding under subsection (a) for the 8 applicable covered program. 9 ‘‘(4) ROLE OF CONTRIBUTING ENTITY.— 10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An entity contributing 11 funds under this subsection may— 12 ‘‘(i) designate the covered program for 13 which the contributed funds are intended 14 to be used; and 15 ‘‘(ii) specify the geographic area in 16 which the contributed funds are intended 17 to be used. 18 ‘‘(B) SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTIONS.—The 19 Secretary shall establish a procedure under 20 which an entity making a significant contribu- 21 tion may— 22 ‘‘(i) identify a natural resource con- 23 cern the contributed funds are to be used 24 to address; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:04 Jun 03, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2606.RH H2606 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2606 RH ‘‘(ii) have the name or brand of the 1 individual or entity associated with the use 2 of the contributed funds. 3 ‘‘(5) PRODUCER PARTICIPATION.— 4 ‘‘(A) PRIORITY.—In selecting producers to 5 carry out, through a covered program, an activ- 6 ity funded pursuant to this subsection, the Sec- 7 retary shall give priority to— 8 ‘‘(i) socially disadvantaged farmers or 9 ranchers, as defined in section 355(e) of 10 the Agricultural Act of 1961 (7 U.S.C. 11 2003); 12 ‘‘(ii) limited resource farmers or 13 ranchers, as determined by the Secretary; 14 and 15 ‘‘(iii) beginning farmers or ranchers. 16 ‘‘(B) SALE OF ECOSYSTEM BENEFITS.—If 17 an activity funded pursuant to this section may 18 result in environmental services benefits to be 19 sold through an environmental services market, 20 the producer carrying out the activity and the 21 entity that contributed the applicable funds 22 shall negotiate a mutually beneficial sale of 23 such benefits. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:04 Jun 03, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2606.RH H2606 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2606 RH ‘‘(6) RULES FOR EASEMENTS.—An easement 1 funded pursuant to this subsection shall be subject 2 to the requirements of the covered program for 3 which the contributed funds were used, except that 4 the Secretary may modify such requirements, as 5 they apply to the easement, for the purpose of ad- 6 dressing climate change, as the Secretary determines 7 appropriate. 8 ‘‘(7) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 9 ‘‘(A) COVERED PROGRAM.—The term ‘cov- 10 ered program’ means a program carried out by 11 the Secretary under— 12 ‘‘(i) subtitle D, subtitle H, or subtitle 13 I; 14 ‘‘(ii) section 403 of the Agricultural 15 Credit Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2203); 16 ‘‘(iii) title V of the Healthy Forests 17 Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6571 18 et seq.); or 19 ‘‘(iv) the Watershed Protection and 20 Flood Prevention Act (16 U.S.C. 1001 et 21 seq.), except for any program established 22 by the Secretary to carry out section 14 of 23 such Act (16 U.S.C. 1012). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:04 Jun 03, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2606.RH H2606 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2606 RH ‘‘(B) SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION.—The 1 term ‘significant contribution’ means a con- 2 tribution under this subsection of at least a 3 minimum dollar amount established by the Sec- 4 retary.’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:04 Jun 03, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2606.RH H2606 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS Union Calendar No. 259 117TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 2606 [Report No. 117–345] A BILL To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 with re- spect to the acceptance and use of contributions for public-private partnerships, and for other purposes. JUNE 3, 2022 Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:04 Jun 03, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H2606.RH H2606 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS