[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3902 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3902

 To amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to 
provide for a set-aside for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers 
for grants to support urban agriculture and innovative production, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 7, 2023

Mr. Espaillat introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                        Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to 
provide for a set-aside for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers 
for grants to support urban agriculture and innovative production, and 
                          for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Growing Opportunities for Innovative 
Farming Act''.

SEC. 2. SET-ASIDE FOR SOCIALLY DISADVANTAGED FARMERS AND RANCHERS.

    Section 222(e) of the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act 
of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6923(e)) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(e) Funding.--
            ``(1) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized 
        to be appropriated to carry out this section and the amendments 
        made by this section $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 
        through 2028.
            ``(2) Set-aside.--Of the amounts made available under 
        paragraph (1) for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall set aside 
        not less than 10 percent to award grants under subsection (c) 
        to eligible entities that serve socially disadvantaged farmers 
        and ranchers (as defined in section 2501(a) of the Food, 
        Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 
        6923(a))), in amounts of not less than $10,000 per grantee per 
        fiscal year.''.

SEC. 3. ANNUAL REPORT ON OPPORTUNITIES AND OUTREACH FOR SOCIALLY 
              DISADVANTAGED FARMERS AND RANCHERS.

    Section 2501(k) of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade 
Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 2279(k)) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
            ``(3) Annual reports.--Not later than 1 year after the date 
        of the enactment of the Growing Opportunities for Innovative 
        Farming Act, and each year thereafter, the Secretary shall 
        submit to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of 
        Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, 
        and Forestry a report describing--
                    ``(A) targeted farming opportunities, training, and 
                outreach practices being carried out by the Secretary 
                under this section;
                    ``(B) a list of census tracts that the Secretary 
                has provided technical assistance to under this 
                section;
                    ``(C) recommendations to Congress on how to enhance 
                equity for socially disadvantaged, small farmers and 
                ranchers; and
                    ``(D) any other data the Secretary determines to be 
                necessary to evaluate the benefits of the technical 
                assistance provided, outreach efforts undertaken, and 
                grants awarded under this section.''.
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