Conservation and Innovative Climate Partnership Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2719 To amend the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 to establish a competitive grant program under which the Secretary of Agriculture provides grants to land-grant colleges and universities to support agricultural producers in adopting conservation and innovative climate practices, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 19, 2023 Mr. NEWHOUSE (for himself and Ms. PINGREE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture A BILL To amend the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 to establish a competitive grant program under which the Secretary of Agriculture provides grants to land-grant colleges and universities to support agricul- tural producers in adopting conservation and innovative climate practices, 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 ‘‘Conservation and Inno- 4 vative Climate Partnership Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2719.IH H2719 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 2719 IH SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 Congress finds that— 2 (1) farmers and producers engage in innovative 3 climate and conservation practices that may include 4 a wide variety of activities, such as— 5 (A) carbon retention or carbon sequestra- 6 tion cropping practices; 7 (B) resource conserving crop rotation; 8 (C) alley cropping; 9 (D) integrated livestock-crop systems; 10 (E) advanced grazing management; 11 (F) improved forestry or agroforestry man- 12 agement; and 13 (G) the insertion of buffers or saturated 14 buffers; 15 (2) the purpose of implementing innovative cli- 16 mate and conservation practices on farm or ranch 17 land is to increase sustainability through— 18 (A) improved soil health and tilth; 19 (B) improved water quality, quantity, and 20 management; 21 (C) improved nutrient management; 22 (D) reduction in tillage; or 23 (E) wildlife promotion and management; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2719.IH H2719 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 2719 IH (3) the benefits of engaging in innovative cli- 1 mate and conservation practices include— 2 (A) a reduction of greenhouse gases emis- 3 sions, including carbon dioxide, methane, sulfur 4 dioxide, and nitrous oxide; 5 (B) carbon sequestration; 6 (C) soil health improvement; and 7 (D) reduced exposure to climate-related 8 risk. 9 SEC. 3. CONSERVATION AND INNOVATIVE CLIMATE PART- 10 NERSHIP COMPETITIVE GRANT PROGRAM. 11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle H of title XVI of the 12 Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 13 is amended by inserting after section 1672 (7 U.S.C. 14 5925) the following: 15 ‘‘SEC. 1672A. CONSERVATION AND INNOVATIVE CLIMATE 16 PARTNERSHIP COMPETITIVE GRANT PRO- 17 GRAM. 18 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 19 ‘‘(1) 1862 INSTITUTION; 1890 INSTITUTION.— 20 The terms ‘1862 Institution’ and ‘1890 Institution’ 21 have the meanings given those terms in section 2 of 22 the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education 23 Reform Act of 1998 (7 U.S.C. 7601). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2719.IH H2719 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 2719 IH ‘‘(2) 1994 INSTITUTION.—The term ‘1994 In- 1 stitution’ has the meaning given the term in section 2 532 of the Equity in Educational Land-Grant Sta- 3 tus Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 301 note; Public Law 4 103–382). 5 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION.—The term ‘eligi- 6 ble institution’ means— 7 ‘‘(A) an 1862 Institution; 8 ‘‘(B) an 1890 Institution; and 9 ‘‘(C) a 1994 Institution. 10 ‘‘(4) PRACTICE.—The term ‘practice’ has the 11 meaning given the term in section 1240A of the 12 Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–1). 13 ‘‘(5) PROGRAM.—The term ‘program’ means 14 the competitive grant program established under 15 subsection (b). 16 ‘‘(6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 17 the Secretary of Agriculture. 18 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab- 19 lish a program to provide competitive grants pursuant to 20 section 3(d) of the Smith-Lever Act (7 U.S.C. 343(d)) to 21 eligible institutions to carry out projects to increase the 22 voluntary adoption of practices through public awareness 23 campaigns, workshops, and specialized technical assist- 24 ance. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2719.IH H2719 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 2719 IH ‘‘(c) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a grant 1 under the program, an eligible institution shall submit to 2 the Secretary an application, including a demonstration 3 that the applicant will— 4 ‘‘(1) increase interaction with local agricultural 5 producers by a rate of not less than 25 percent 6 above the outreach rate before the implementation of 7 the project under the program, as determined by the 8 Secretary; 9 ‘‘(2) assist agricultural producers in imple- 10 menting new practices on farms or edges of fields, 11 improving existing practices on farms or edges of 12 fields, or any combination thereof; and 13 ‘‘(3) assist agricultural producers in imple- 14 menting a combination of practices that contribute 15 to— 16 ‘‘(A) the overall improvement of conserva- 17 tion; or 18 ‘‘(B) a decrease in, or sequestration of, 19 greenhouse gas emissions. 20 ‘‘(d) PARTNERSHIPS.—An eligible institution shall 21 carry out a project using a grant under the program in 22 partnership with not fewer than 1 other entity, which may 23 include— 24 ‘‘(1) a nonprofit organization; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2719.IH H2719 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 2719 IH ‘‘(2) a State entity; 1 ‘‘(3) the Natural Resources Conservation Serv- 2 ice; 3 ‘‘(4) an 1862 Institution; 4 ‘‘(5) an 1890 Institution; 5 ‘‘(6) a 1994 Institution; or 6 ‘‘(7) any combination thereof. 7 ‘‘(e) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The amount of a grant 8 under the program shall be not more than $400,000. 9 ‘‘(f) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible institution may use 10 a grant under the program— 11 ‘‘(1) to support agricultural producers in imple- 12 menting a practice; 13 ‘‘(2) subject to subsection (g), for additional 14 staffing at the eligible institution to assist in car- 15 rying out a project using the grant; 16 ‘‘(3) to conduct workshops for agricultural pro- 17 ducers, and develop and distribute digital and hard- 18 copy materials directly to agricultural producers, 19 that provide clear directions for accessing technical 20 assistance for adopting practices; and 21 ‘‘(4) for soil testing and the measuring of other 22 indicators of the effectiveness of practices. 23 ‘‘(g) LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.— 24 An eligible institution may use not more than 30 percent 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2719.IH H2719 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 2719 IH of the amount of a grant under the program for adminis- 1 trative expenses. 2 ‘‘(h) DURATION.—A grant provided under the pro- 3 gram shall be for such period as the Secretary determines 4 to be appropriate, but not less than 4 years. 5 ‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 6 authorized to be appropriated to provide grants under the 7 program pursuant to section 3(d) of the Smith-Lever Act 8 (7 U.S.C. 343(d)) $13,000,000 for each fiscal year.’’. 9 (b) ELIGIBILITY OF 1994 INSTITUTIONS.—Section 10 3(d) of the Smith-Lever Act (7 U.S.C. 343(d)) is amend- 11 ed, in the third sentence— 12 (1) by striking ‘‘program and’’ and inserting 13 ‘‘program,’’; and 14 (2) by inserting ‘‘, and the conservation and in- 15 novative climate partnership competitive grant pro- 16 gram established under section 1672A of the Food, 17 Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990’’ 18 before the period at the end. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2719.IH H2719 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB