COMPOST Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 651 To require the designation of composting as a conservation practice and activity, and to provide grants and loan guarantees for composting facili- ties and programs, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 31, 2023 Ms. BROWNLEY (for herself, Ms. PINGREE, Ms. KUSTER, and Ms. BONAMICI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ag- riculture A BILL To require the designation of composting as a conservation practice and activity, and to provide grants and loan guarantees 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 04:48 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H651.IH H651 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 651 IH 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 new paragraph: 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) COMPOSTING DEFINED.— 15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes 16 of this paragraph, the term ‘composting’ 17 means— 18 ‘‘(I) an activity (including an ac- 19 tivity that does not require the use of 20 a composting facility) to produce com- 21 post from organic waste that is— 22 ‘‘(aa) generated on a farm; 23 or 24 ‘‘(bb) brought to a farm 25 from a nearby community and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:48 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H651.IH H651 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 651 IH 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), which shall ensure that bringing or- 14 ganic 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 04:48 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H651.IH H651 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 651 IH 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 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Consolidated Farm and 15 Rural Development Act is amended by inserting after sec- 16 tion 310I (7 U.S.C. 1936) the following: 17 ‘‘SEC. 310J. GRANTS AND LOAN GUARANTEES FOR 18 COMPOSTING PROGRAMS. 19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation 20 with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 21 Agency, shall establish and carry out a program to award 22 grants and loan guarantees, on a competitive basis, for 23 projects that expand access to food waste composting. 24 ‘‘(b) GRANTS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:48 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H651.IH H651 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 651 IH ‘‘(1) AMOUNT.— 1 ‘‘(A) COST SHARE.—The total amount of 2 grant funds awarded for a project under this 3 section shall not exceed 75 percent of the cost 4 of the project for which the grant is awarded, 5 as determined by the Secretary. 6 ‘‘(B) MAXIMUM.—The total amount of 7 grant funds awarded for a project under this 8 subsection shall not exceed $5,000,000. 9 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION.—Of funds made available to 10 carry out this subsection in each fiscal year, the Sec- 11 retary shall allocate not less than 25 percent to 12 projects that do not include the use of centralized 13 commercial composting, to the extent there are suffi- 14 cient applications for such projects. 15 ‘‘(3) TIMELINE.—An entity receiving a grant 16 under this subsection shall fully expend the awarded 17 grant funds within 3 years of receiving the funds. 18 ‘‘(4) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The Secretary may 19 award a grant under this section to any of the fol- 20 lowing entities: 21 ‘‘(A) A State, local, territorial, or Tribal 22 government. 23 ‘‘(B) A local educational agency (as de- 24 fined in section 8101 of the Elementary and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:48 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H651.IH H651 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 651 IH Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1 7801)). 2 ‘‘(C) An institution of higher education. 3 ‘‘(D) A non-profit organization. 4 ‘‘(E) A farmer or rancher. 5 ‘‘(F) A consortium of any of the entities 6 described in subparagraphs (A) through (E). 7 ‘‘(G) One or more of any of the entities de- 8 scribed in subparagraphs (A) through (F), in 9 coordination with a for-profit organization. 10 ‘‘(c) LOAN GUARANTEES.— 11 ‘‘(1) AMOUNT.— 12 ‘‘(A) COST SHARE.—The Secretary may 13 award a loan guarantee under this section in an 14 amount that does not exceed 80 percent of the 15 cost of a project that is eligible for assistance 16 under this section, as determined by the Sec- 17 retary. 18 ‘‘(B) MAXIMUM.—The Secretary may not 19 provide a loan guarantee under this section in 20 an amount that exceeds $5,000,000. 21 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The Secretary may 22 award a loan guarantee under this section to a for- 23 profit organization, farmer, or rancher that dem- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:48 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H651.IH H651 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 651 IH onstrates successful prior experience in developing, 1 managing, and marketing composting facilities. 2 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—The Secretary may 3 award grants and loan guarantees under this section for 4 projects to carry out the following: 5 ‘‘(1) Composting facility or site permitting, 6 planning, and construction. 7 ‘‘(2) Acquisition of machinery, equipment, and 8 other physical necessities required to operate a 9 composting facility, system, or program, except 10 depackaging equipment. 11 ‘‘(3) Activities to increase the production capac- 12 ity throughput of a composting facility. 13 ‘‘(4) Implementation of onsite composting sys- 14 tems and programs (such as home composting pro- 15 grams, community garden and urban farm 16 composting, and other onsite composting systems at 17 institutions, nonprofits, and businesses). 18 ‘‘(5) Projects that are based on a distributed 19 infrastructure strategy (such as a strategy that in- 20 corporates a mix or choice of home composting, farm 21 and ranch composting, onsite composting, commu- 22 nity-scale composting, or centralized commercial 23 composting). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:48 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H651.IH H651 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 651 IH ‘‘(6) Collection of organic waste intended for 1 processing at a composting facility or system, or 2 through a composting program, including curbside 3 pick-up programs, community drop-off programs, 4 and facility- or event-specific programs (such as pro- 5 grams at schools, restaurants, stadiums, or fes- 6 tivals). 7 ‘‘(7) Activities for land-based compost applica- 8 tion, including compost application on a farm or 9 ranch. 10 ‘‘(8) Market development projects that create a 11 demand for compost product or increase commercial 12 and residential participation in composting. 13 ‘‘(e) REQUIREMENTS.—An eligible entity applying for 14 a grant or loan guarantee under this section shall dem- 15 onstrate that the project for which such assistance is 16 sought— 17 ‘‘(1) will— 18 ‘‘(A) result in composting of food waste 19 (which may include such composting in com- 20 bination with non-food organic waste); 21 ‘‘(B) result in increased total capacity to 22 accept and process food waste into finished 23 compost product; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:48 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H651.IH H651 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 651 IH ‘‘(C) include at least one operator of a fa- 1 cility or system, if applicable, who is trained on 2 best management practices for composting 3 (such as odor, vector, pathogen, and contami- 4 nant control practices); 5 ‘‘(2) in the case of a market development 6 project, is likely to create sufficient demand to in- 7 crease total capacity, in the targeted market, to ac- 8 cept and process food waste into high-quality fin- 9 ished compost; or 10 ‘‘(3) in the case of land-based compost applica- 11 tion activities, is consistent with any applicable re- 12 quirements pursuant to section 1241(j) of the Food 13 Security Act of 1985. 14 ‘‘(f) PRIORITY FACTORS.—In awarding grants and 15 loan guarantees under this section, the Secretary shall 16 prioritize projects that include the greatest number of the 17 following factors: 18 ‘‘(1) The project is located in or serving a loca- 19 tion with significant access to food waste and no or 20 limited prior access to food waste composting. 21 ‘‘(2) The project demonstrates the potential to 22 create new capacity for the volume or weight of food 23 waste collected and processed, or make significant 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:48 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H651.IH H651 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 651 IH gains in the number of people with access to food 1 waste composting facilities or systems. 2 ‘‘(3) The project includes a demonstrated plan 3 for following best management practices and pro- 4 ducing a high-quality compost product. 5 ‘‘(4) The project incorporates the participation 6 of small and diverse businesses (such as minority-, 7 woman-, and veteran-owned businesses certified by 8 the Small Business Administration or under a State 9 program or another recognized certification program 10 and other businesses led by Black people, Indigenous 11 people, or other people of color). 12 ‘‘(5) The project creates opportunities for hir- 13 ing and leadership development practices that are in- 14 clusive and provide living wages. 15 ‘‘(6) The project serves disadvantaged and low- 16 income communities, engages Black farmers, Indige- 17 nous farmers, and other farmers of color, or incor- 18 porates an environmental justice plan or principles. 19 ‘‘(7) The project is for a facility or system that 20 accepts or plans to accept and process only source 21 separated organics. 22 ‘‘(g) LIMITATION.—The Secretary may award only 23 one grant or loan guarantee under this section for any 24 project. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:48 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H651.IH H651 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 651 IH ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 1 ‘‘(1) SOURCE SEPARATED ORGANICS.— 2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘source sep- 3 arated organics’ means organic waste that is 4 separated from other waste by the waste gener- 5 ator. 6 ‘‘(B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘source sepa- 7 rated organics’ includes materials that are cer- 8 tified to meet ASTM standard D6400 or 9 D6868. 10 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘source sepa- 11 rated organics’ excludes mixed solid waste. 12 ‘‘(2) CENTRALIZED COMMERCIAL 13 COMPOSTING.—The term ‘centralized commercial 14 composting’ means a regional composting facility 15 that produces at least 10,000 tons of compost annu- 16 ally. 17 ‘‘(i) FUNDING.—There is authorized to be appro- 18 priated to carry out this section $200,000,000 for each 19 of fiscal years 2024 through 2033.’’. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:48 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H651.IH H651 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS