COMPOST Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 179 To require the designation of composting as a conservation practice and activity, to provide grants and loan guarantees for composting facilities and programs, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 31, 2023 Mr. BOOKER (for himself and Ms. SMITH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry A BILL To require the designation of composting as a conservation practice and activity, to provide grants and loan guaran- tees for composting facilities and programs, 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 ‘‘Cultivating Organic 4 Matter through the Promotion Of Sustainable Techniques 5 Act’’ or the ‘‘COMPOST Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Feb 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S179.IS S179 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 179 IS SEC. 2. COMPOSTING AS CONSERVATION PRACTICE. 1 (a) CONSERVATION STANDARDS AND REQUIRE- 2 MENTS.—Section 1241(j) of the Food Security Act of 3 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3841(j)) is amended— 4 (1) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para- 5 graph (3); and 6 (2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol- 7 lowing: 8 ‘‘(2) COMPOSTING AS CONSERVATION PRACTICE 9 AND ACTIVITY.— 10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall by 11 regulation provide that composting is a con- 12 servation practice and a conservation activity 13 for the purposes of this title. 14 ‘‘(B) DEFINITION OF COMPOSTING.— 15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In this paragraph, 16 the term ‘composting’ means— 17 ‘‘(I) an activity (including an ac- 18 tivity that does not require the use of 19 a composting facility) to produce com- 20 post from organic waste that is— 21 ‘‘(aa) generated on a farm; 22 or 23 ‘‘(bb) brought to a farm 24 from a nearby community and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Feb 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S179.IS S179 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 179 IS used to produce compost on that 1 farm; and 2 ‘‘(II) the use and active manage- 3 ment of compost on a farm, in accord- 4 ance with any applicable Federal, 5 State, or local law, to improve water 6 retention and soil health. 7 ‘‘(ii) DETERMINATION OF NEARBY 8 COMMUNITIES.—The Secretary, in con- 9 sultation with the Administrator of the En- 10 vironmental Protection Agency, shall issue 11 regulations for determining whether a com- 12 munity is nearby for purposes of clause 13 (i)(I)(bb), which shall ensure that bringing 14 organic waste from the community to the 15 farm to produce compost results in a net 16 reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.’’. 17 (b) CONSERVATION STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM.—Sec- 18 tion 1240I(2)(B)(i) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 19 U.S.C. 3839aa–21(2)(B)(i)) is amended by inserting ‘‘and 20 composting practices’’ after ‘‘agriculture drainage man- 21 agement systems’’. 22 (c) ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY INCENTIVES PRO- 23 GRAM.—Section 1240A(6)(A)(ii) of the Food Security Act 24 of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–1(6)(A)(ii)) is amended by in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Feb 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S179.IS S179 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 179 IS serting ‘‘, including composting practices’’ before the semi- 1 colon at the end. 2 (d) DELIVERY OF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Section 3 1242(h) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 4 3842(h)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(5) DEVELOPMENT OF COMPOSTING PRACTICE 6 STANDARD.—In addition to conducting a review 7 under this subsection of any composting facility 8 practice standard established before the date of en- 9 actment of this paragraph, the Secretary shall estab- 10 lish a composting practice standard under the proc- 11 ess developed under paragraph (3).’’. 12 SEC. 3. COMPOSTING GRANT AND LOAN GUARANTEE PRO- 13 GRAM. 14 The Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act 15 is amended by inserting after section 310I (7 U.S.C. 16 1936c) the following: 17 ‘‘SEC. 310J. GRANTS AND LOAN GUARANTEES FOR 18 COMPOSTING PROGRAMS. 19 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 20 ‘‘(1) CENTRALIZED COMMERCIAL COMPOSTING 21 FACILITY.—The term ‘centralized commercial 22 composting facility’ means a regional composting fa- 23 cility that produces at least 10,000 tons of compost 24 annually. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Feb 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S179.IS S179 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 179 IS ‘‘(2) SOURCE SEPARATED ORGANICS.— 1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘source sep- 2 arated organics’ means organic waste that is 3 separated from other waste by the waste gener- 4 ator. 5 ‘‘(B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘source sepa- 6 rated organics’ includes materials that are cer- 7 tified to meet ASTM standard D6400 or 8 D6868. 9 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘source sepa- 10 rated organics’ does not include mixed solid 11 waste. 12 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM.—The Secretary, in consultation with 13 the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agen- 14 cy, shall establish and carry out a program to award 15 grants and loan guarantees, on a competitive basis, for 16 projects that expand access to food waste composting. 17 ‘‘(c) GRANTS.— 18 ‘‘(1) AMOUNT.— 19 ‘‘(A) COST SHARE.—The total amount of 20 grant funds awarded for a project under this 21 section shall not exceed 75 percent of the cost 22 of the project for which the grant is awarded, 23 as determined by the Secretary. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Feb 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S179.IS S179 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 179 IS ‘‘(B) MAXIMUM.—The total amount of 1 grant funds awarded for a project under this 2 subsection shall not exceed $5,000,000. 3 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION.—Of funds made available to 4 carry out this subsection in each fiscal year, the Sec- 5 retary shall allocate not less than 25 percent to 6 projects that do not include the use of centralized 7 commercial composting facilities, to the extent there 8 are sufficient applications for those projects. 9 ‘‘(3) TIMELINE.—An entity receiving a grant 10 under this subsection shall fully expend the awarded 11 grant funds within 3 years of receiving the funds. 12 ‘‘(4) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The Secretary may 13 award a grant under this subsection to any of the 14 following entities: 15 ‘‘(A) A State, local, territorial, or Tribal 16 government. 17 ‘‘(B) A local educational agency (as de- 18 fined in section 8101 of the Elementary and 19 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 20 7801)). 21 ‘‘(C) An institution of higher education. 22 ‘‘(D) A nonprofit organization. 23 ‘‘(E) A farmer or rancher. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Feb 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S179.IS S179 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 179 IS ‘‘(F) A consortium of any of the entities 1 described in subparagraphs (A) through (E). 2 ‘‘(G) 1 or more of any of the entities de- 3 scribed in subparagraphs (A) through (F), in 4 coordination with a for-profit organization. 5 ‘‘(d) LOAN GUARANTEES.— 6 ‘‘(1) AMOUNT.— 7 ‘‘(A) COST SHARE.—The Secretary may 8 award a loan guarantee under this section in an 9 amount that does not exceed 80 percent of the 10 cost of a project that is eligible for assistance 11 under this section, as determined by the Sec- 12 retary. 13 ‘‘(B) MAXIMUM.—The Secretary may not 14 provide a loan guarantee under this section in 15 an amount that exceeds $5,000,000. 16 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The Secretary may 17 award a loan guarantee under this section to a for- 18 profit organization, farmer, or rancher that dem- 19 onstrates successful prior experience in developing, 20 managing, and marketing composting facilities. 21 ‘‘(e) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—The Secretary may 22 award grants and loan guarantees under this section for 23 projects to carry out the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Feb 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S179.IS S179 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 179 IS ‘‘(1) Composting facility or site permitting, 1 planning, and construction. 2 ‘‘(2) Acquisition of machinery, equipment, and 3 other physical necessities required to operate a 4 composting facility, system, or program, except 5 depackaging equipment. 6 ‘‘(3) Activities to increase the production capac- 7 ity throughput of a composting facility. 8 ‘‘(4) Implementation of onsite composting sys- 9 tems and programs (such as home composting pro- 10 grams, community garden and urban farm 11 composting, and other onsite composting systems at 12 institutions, nonprofit organizations, and busi- 13 nesses). 14 ‘‘(5) Projects that are based on a distributed 15 infrastructure strategy (such as a strategy that in- 16 corporates a mix or choice of home composting, farm 17 and ranch composting, onsite composting, commu- 18 nity-scale composting, or centralized commercial 19 composting). 20 ‘‘(6) Collection of organic waste intended for 21 processing at a composting facility or system, or 22 through a composting program, including curbside 23 pick-up programs, community drop-off programs, 24 and facility- or event-specific programs (such as pro- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Feb 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S179.IS S179 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 179 IS grams at schools, restaurants, stadiums, or fes- 1 tivals). 2 ‘‘(7) Activities for land-based compost applica- 3 tion, including compost application on a farm or 4 ranch. 5 ‘‘(8) Market development projects that create a 6 demand for compost product or increase commercial 7 and residential participation in composting. 8 ‘‘(f) REQUIREMENTS.—An eligible entity applying for 9 a grant or loan guarantee under this section shall dem- 10 onstrate that the project for which that assistance is 11 sought— 12 ‘‘(1) will— 13 ‘‘(A) result in composting of food waste 14 (which may include such composting in com- 15 bination with non-food organic waste); 16 ‘‘(B) result in increased total capacity to 17 accept and process food waste into finished 18 compost product; and 19 ‘‘(C) include at least 1 operator of a facil- 20 ity or system, if applicable, who is trained on 21 best management practices for composting 22 (such as odor, vector, pathogen, and contami- 23 nant control practices); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Feb 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S179.IS S179 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 179 IS ‘‘(2) in the case of a market development 1 project, is likely to create sufficient demand to in- 2 crease total capacity, in the targeted market, to ac- 3 cept and process food waste into high-quality fin- 4 ished compost; or 5 ‘‘(3) in the case of land-based compost applica- 6 tion activities, is consistent with any applicable re- 7 quirements under paragraph (2) of section 1241(j) 8 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 9 3841(j)). 10 ‘‘(g) PRIORITY FACTORS.—In awarding grants and 11 loan guarantees under this section, the Secretary shall 12 prioritize projects that include the greatest number of the 13 following factors: 14 ‘‘(1) The project is located in or serving a loca- 15 tion with significant access to food waste and no or 16 limited prior access to food waste composting. 17 ‘‘(2) The project demonstrates the potential to 18 create new capacity for the volume or weight of food 19 waste collected and processed, or make significant 20 gains in the number of people with access to food 21 waste composting facilities or systems. 22 ‘‘(3) The project includes a demonstrated plan 23 for following best management practices and pro- 24 ducing a high-quality compost product. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Feb 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S179.IS S179 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 179 IS ‘‘(4) The project incorporates the participation 1 of small and diverse businesses (such as minority-, 2 woman-, and veteran-owned businesses certified by 3 the Small Business Administration or under a State 4 program or another recognized certification program 5 and other businesses led by Black people, Indigenous 6 people, or other people of color). 7 ‘‘(5) The project creates opportunities for hir- 8 ing and leadership development practices that are in- 9 clusive and provide living wages. 10 ‘‘(6) The project serves disadvantaged and low- 11 income communities, engages Black farmers, Indige- 12 nous farmers, and other farmers of color, or incor- 13 porates an environmental justice plan or principles. 14 ‘‘(7) The project is for a facility or system that 15 accepts or plans to accept and process only source 16 separated organics. 17 ‘‘(h) LIMITATION.—The Secretary may award only 1 18 grant or loan guarantee under this section for any project. 19 ‘‘(i) FUNDING.—There is authorized to be appro- 20 priated to carry out this section $200,000,000 for each 21 of fiscal years 2023 through 2032.’’. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 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