Healthy Soil, Resilient Farmers Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8057 To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act with respect to the conservation loan and loan guarantee program. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUGUST 14, 2020 Ms. SPANBERGER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture A BILL To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act with respect to the conservation loan and loan guar- antee program. 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 ‘‘Healthy Soil, Resilient 4 Farmers Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. CONSERVATION LOAN AND LOAN GUARANTEE PRO- 6 GRAM. 7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 304(b) of the Consoli- 8 dated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 9 1924(b)) is amended— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:28 Sep 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8057.IH H8057 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8057 IH (1) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘or a soil 1 health transition plan’’ after ‘‘conservation plan’’; 2 and 3 (2) by adding at the end the following: 4 ‘‘(4) SOIL HEALTH TRANSITION LOAN.—The 5 term ‘soil health transition loan’ means a qualified 6 conservation loan with respect to which the applica- 7 ble qualified conservation project addresses provi- 8 sions of a soil health transition plan. 9 ‘‘(5) SOIL HEALTH TRANSITION PLAN.—The 10 term ‘soil health transition plan’ means a com- 11 prehensive, whole-farm plan, approved by the Sec- 12 retary, that, for a farming or ranching operation, 13 identifies the conservation activities that will be ad- 14 dressed with loan funds provided or guaranteed 15 under this section to assist the borrower in making 16 a transition to a farming or ranching production and 17 conservation system that includes one or more of the 18 following: 19 ‘‘(A) Cover cropping or other continuous 20 living cover systems. 21 ‘‘(B) Resource-conserving crop rotation, as 22 defined in section 1240L(d)(1) of the Food Se- 23 curity Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–24). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:28 Sep 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8057.IH H8057 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8057 IH ‘‘(C) Advanced grazing management, in- 1 cluding management-intensive rotational graz- 2 ing, as defined in section 1240L(d)(1) of the 3 Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa– 4 24). 5 ‘‘(D) Certified organic production under 6 the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (7 7 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.). 8 ‘‘(E) Such other soil health management 9 systems, including systems to increase soil car- 10 bon levels, as the Secretary may designate.’’. 11 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—Section 304(c)(2) of the Consoli- 12 dated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 13 1924(c)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘subparagraphs (A) 14 and (B)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraphs (A), (B), and 15 (C)’’. 16 (c) PRIORITY.—Section 304(d) of the Consolidated 17 Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1924(d)) is 18 amended— 19 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 20 inserting a semicolon; 21 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at 22 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 23 (3) by adding at the end the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:28 Sep 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8057.IH H8057 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8057 IH ‘‘(4) farmers or ranchers whose farm or ranch 1 land is subject to the jurisdiction of an Indian 2 tribe.’’. 3 (d) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.—Section 304(f) 4 of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 5 U.S.C. 1924(f)) is amended— 6 (1) by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and inserting 7 the following: 8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary’’; and 9 (2) by adding at the end the following: 10 ‘‘(2) SOIL HEALTH TRANSITION LOANS.— 11 ‘‘(A) LIMITATIONS PERMITTED.—In mak- 12 ing or guaranteeing soil health transition loans 13 under this section, the Secretary may limit eli- 14 gibility to individuals and entities described in 15 subsection (d). 16 ‘‘(B) WAIVER OF PRINCIPAL AND INTER- 17 EST.—The Secretary shall establish terms and 18 conditions for making or guaranteeing soil 19 health transition loans under this section that 20 waive principal and interest repayment for up 21 to three years from the date on which the loan 22 is made or guaranteed in order for the borrower 23 to make a satisfactory transition to the farming 24 or ranching production and conservation system 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:28 Sep 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8057.IH H8057 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8057 IH to be adopted under the soil health transition 1 plan.’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:28 Sep 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8057.IH H8057 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS