Increased TSP Access Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3036 To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to modify the delivery of technical assistance, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 2, 2023 Mr. BAIRD (for himself and Ms. SPANBERGER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture A BILL To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to modify the delivery of technical assistance, 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 ‘‘Increased TSP Access 4 Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. DELIVERY OF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. 6 Section 1242 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 7 U.S.C. 3842) is amended— 8 (1) in subsection (a)— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3036.IH H3036 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3036 IH (A) by redesignating paragraph (2) as 1 paragraph (3); and 2 (B) by inserting after paragraph (1) the 3 following: 4 ‘‘(2) NON-FEDERAL CERTIFYING ENTITY.—The 5 term ‘non-Federal certifying entity’ means a non- 6 Federal entity or State agency described in subpara- 7 graph (A) or (B), respectively, of subsection (e)(4).’’; 8 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘science- 9 based, site-specific practices designed’’ and inserting 10 ‘‘timely, science-based, and site-specific practice de- 11 sign and implementation assistance’’; 12 (3) in subsection (d), by inserting ‘‘(including 13 private sector entities)’’ after ‘‘non-Federal entities’’; 14 (4) in subsection (e)— 15 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘Food, 16 Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008’’ and in- 17 serting ‘‘Increased TSP Access Act of 2023’’; 18 (B) in paragraph (3)— 19 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 20 ‘‘ensure’’ and all that follows through ‘‘en- 21 gineering,’’ and inserting ‘‘ensure that 22 third-party providers with expertise in the 23 technical aspects of conservation planning, 24 watershed planning, environmental engi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3036.IH H3036 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3036 IH neering, conservation practice design, im- 1 plementation, and evaluation, or other 2 technical skills, as determined by the Sec- 3 retary,’’; and 4 (ii) in subparagraph (C), by inserting 5 ‘‘by the Secretary’’ after ‘‘established’’; 6 and 7 (C) by striking paragraphs (4) and (5) and 8 inserting the following: 9 ‘‘(4) CERTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall cer- 10 tify a third-party provider through— 11 ‘‘(A) a certification process administered 12 by the Secretary, acting through the Chief of 13 the Natural Resources Conservation Service; 14 ‘‘(B) a non-Federal entity (other than a 15 State agency) approved by the Secretary to per- 16 form the certification; or 17 ‘‘(C) a State agency with statutory author- 18 ity to certify, administer, or license profes- 19 sionals in one or more fields of natural re- 20 sources, agriculture, or engineering approved by 21 the Secretary to perform the certification. 22 ‘‘(5) TIMELY DECISIONS.—Not later than 10 23 business days after the date on which the Secretary 24 receives a notification submitted by a non-Federal 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3036.IH H3036 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 3036 IH certifying entity that the non-Federal certifying enti- 1 ty has certified a third-party provider, the Secretary 2 shall— 3 ‘‘(A) review the certification; and 4 ‘‘(B) if the certification is satisfactory to 5 the Secretary, include the name of the third- 6 party provider on the registry of certified third- 7 party providers maintained by the Secretary. 8 ‘‘(6) NON-FEDERAL CERTIFYING ENTITY PROC- 9 ESS.— 10 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 11 180 days after the date of enactment of the In- 12 creased TSP Access Act of 2023, the Secretary 13 shall establish a process for the certification of 14 third-party providers by non-Federal certifying 15 entities, with the goal of increasing third-party 16 provider capacity, including the certification of 17 qualified agricultural retailers, cooperatives, 18 professional societies, service providers, and or- 19 ganizations described in section 1265A(3)(B)(i). 20 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBILITY OF NON-FEDERAL CER- 21 TIFYING ENTITIES.—In determining the eligi- 22 bility of a non-Federal certifying entity under 23 subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall con- 24 sider— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3036.IH H3036 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 3036 IH ‘‘(i) the ability of the non-Federal cer- 1 tifying entity to assess qualifications of a 2 third-party provider and certify third-party 3 providers at scale; 4 ‘‘(ii) the experience of the non-Federal 5 certifying entity in working with third- 6 party providers and eligible participants; 7 ‘‘(iii) the expertise of the non-Federal 8 certifying entity in the technical and 9 science-based aspects of conservation deliv- 10 ery described in paragraph (3)(A); 11 ‘‘(iv) the history of the non-Federal 12 certifying entity in working with agricul- 13 tural producers; and 14 ‘‘(v) such other qualifications as the 15 Secretary determines to be appropriate. 16 ‘‘(C) APPROVAL.—Not later than 40 busi- 17 ness days after the date on which the Secretary 18 receives an application submitted by a non-Fed- 19 eral certifying entity to certify third-party pro- 20 viders under this section, the Secretary shall 21 make a decision on whether to approve the non- 22 Federal certifying entity to certify third-party 23 providers. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3036.IH H3036 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 3036 IH ‘‘(D) DUTIES OF NON-FEDERAL CERTI- 1 FYING ENTITIES.—A non-Federal certifying en- 2 tity approved by the Secretary to certify third- 3 party providers shall— 4 ‘‘(i) assess the ability of a third-party 5 provider to appropriately provide technical 6 assistance to eligible participants; 7 ‘‘(ii) provide training to ensure that a 8 third-party provider certified by the non- 9 Federal certifying entity is qualified to 10 provide that technical assistance; 11 ‘‘(iii) submit to the Secretary a timely 12 notice of— 13 ‘‘(I) each third-party provider 14 certified by the non-Federal certifying 15 entity, for inclusion on the registry of 16 certified third-party providers main- 17 tained by the Secretary; and 18 ‘‘(II) each third-party provider 19 the certification of which is withdrawn 20 by the non-Federal certifying entity. 21 ‘‘(7) STREAMLINED CERTIFICATION.—Not later 22 than 180 days after the date of enactment of the In- 23 creased TSP Access Act of 2023, the Secretary shall 24 provide a streamlined certification process for a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3036.IH H3036 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 3036 IH third-party provider that has an appropriate spe- 1 cialty certification, including a certified crop advisor 2 certified by the American Society of Agronomy, a 3 professional engineer, or a holder of a technical cer- 4 tification approved by the Secretary.’’; and 5 (5) in subsection (f)— 6 (A) in paragraph (2), in the matter pre- 7 ceding subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘or a 8 non-Federal certifying entity’’ after ‘‘third- 9 party provider’’; 10 (B) by striking paragraph (3) and insert- 11 ing the following: 12 ‘‘(3) REVIEW.—Not later than 1 year after the 13 date of enactment of the Increased TSP Access Act 14 of 2023, and additionally thereafter at the discretion 15 of the Secretary, the Secretary shall— 16 ‘‘(A) review certification requirements for 17 third-party providers; 18 ‘‘(B) make any adjustments considered 19 necessary by the Secretary to improve participa- 20 tion and the quality and effectiveness of con- 21 servation practices implemented and adopted 22 with support from technical service providers; 23 ‘‘(C) conduct outreach to and receive input 24 from third-party providers, both that currently 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3036.IH H3036 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 3036 IH participate in the program under this section 1 and those that no longer participate in the pro- 2 gram, and entities, organizations, and associa- 3 tions providing or supporting consultative serv- 4 ices to agriculture, livestock, and forest pro- 5 ducers to assess barriers and opportunities for 6 the use of third-party provider assistance for 7 improved conservation program delivery; and 8 ‘‘(D) set a target utilization rate for third- 9 party providers.’’; 10 (C) in paragraph (4)(A)(i), by inserting 11 ‘‘maintenance,’’ after ‘‘outreach,’’; and 12 (D) by striking paragraph (5) and insert- 13 ing the following: 14 ‘‘(5) PAYMENT AMOUNTS.— 15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 16 establish fair and reasonable amounts of pay- 17 ments for technical services provided by third- 18 party providers at rates equivalent to, but that 19 do not exceed, technical assistance provided by 20 the Secretary. 21 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In determining 22 fair and reasonable payment amounts under 23 subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall consider 24 specialized equipment, frequency of site visits, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3036.IH H3036 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 3036 IH training, travel and transportation, and such 1 other factors as the Secretary determines to be 2 appropriate. 3 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSION.—A payment provided 4 under another Federal program directly to an 5 eligible participant for technical assistance pro- 6 vided by a third-party provider certified under 7 this section shall be— 8 ‘‘(i) excluded from cost-sharing re- 9 quirements under the program under 10 which the payment was provided; and 11 ‘‘(ii) equal to not more than 100 per- 12 cent of the fair and reasonable payment 13 amount for the applicable technical assist- 14 ance determined under subparagraph (B). 15 ‘‘(6) TRANSPARENCY.—Not later than 1 year 16 after the date of enactment of the Increased TSP 17 Access Act of 2023, the Secretary shall provide ac- 18 cessible public information on— 19 ‘‘(A) funds obligated to third-party pro- 20 viders through— 21 ‘‘(i) contracts entered into between el- 22 igible participants and individual third- 23 party providers; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3036.IH H3036 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 3036 IH ‘‘(ii) agreements with public and pri- 1 vate sector entities to secure third-party 2 technical assistance; 3 ‘‘(B) certification results, including— 4 ‘‘(i) the number of third-party pro- 5 viders certified by the Secretary; 6 ‘‘(ii) the number of non-Federal certi- 7 fying entities approved by the Secretary; 8 ‘‘(iii) the number of third-party pro- 9 viders certified by non-Federal certifying 10 entities; and 11 ‘‘(iv) the number of third-party pro- 12 viders certified based on State agency or 13 professional association credentialing; 14 ‘‘(C) how third-party providers contribute 15 to the quality and effectiveness of conservation 16 practices implemented and adopted, and what 17 improvements are needed; and 18 ‘‘(D) the target utilization rate set under 19 paragraph (3)(D) and how actual utilization 20 compares to that target rate.’’. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3036.IH H3036 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB