[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5500 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5500
To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to require the Secretary of
Agriculture to establish an initiative to support peer learning
relating to a wide range of agriculture conservation activities, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 14, 2023
Mr. Molinaro (for himself and Ms. Salinas) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to require the Secretary of
Agriculture to establish an initiative to support peer learning
relating to a wide range of agriculture conservation activities, 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 ``Peer Learning for Agriculture
Conservation Education Act of 2023'' or the ``PLACE Act of 2023''.
SEC. 2. PEER LEARNING FOR AGRICULTURE CONSERVATION EDUCATION.
Section 1271C of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3871c) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``(e) Peer Learning Initiative.--
``(1) Definition of peer learning.--In this subsection, the
term `peer learning' means an educational experience that
includes--
``(A) farmer, rancher, or forester led information
sharing, education, or training activities that support
agricultural producers or foresters; or
``(B) the provision of farmer, rancher, or forester
led technical assistance to agricultural producers or
foresters.
``(2) Establishment of initiative.--Not later than 1 year
after enactment, the Secretary shall establish an initiative to
support projects that provide to agricultural producers peer
learning opportunities relating to a wide range of agriculture
conservation activities, such as--
``(A) activities or management systems, as
determined by the Secretary, that directly contribute
to improving soil health; and
``(B) any other regional priority natural resource
concerns, as determined by the Secretary.
``(3) Grants.--
``(A) In general.--In carrying out the initiative
established under paragraph (2), the Secretary shall
enter into not fewer than 5 grant agreements each
fiscal year to support peer learning projects in
accordance with that paragraph.
``(B) Agreements.--
``(i) In general.--The Secretary may enter
into a grant agreement under subparagraph (A)
with 1 or more eligible partners that are
engaged in providing peer learning to
agricultural producers.
``(ii) Projects.--A grant agreement under
subparagraph (A) may support any of the
following:
``(I) Projects within or sponsored
by a State.
``(II) Multistate projects.
``(III) Projects in a critical
conservation area designated under
section 1271F.
``(C) Applications.--
``(i) In general.--An organization
described in subparagraph (B)(i) desiring to
enter into a grant agreement under subparagraph
(A) shall submit to the Secretary an
application at such time, in such manner, and
containing such information as the Secretary
may require.
``(ii) Multiple applicants.--An application
under clause (i) may be submitted jointly by
multiple organizations described in
subparagraph (B)(i).
``(4) Duties of the eligible partner.--
``(A) Entities that enter into an agreement with
the Secretary under paragraph (3)(B) shall use funding
for purposes related to coordinating peer learning
initiatives, such as--
``(i) convening of stakeholders to achieve
the goals of the contractual partnership with
NRCS through the Program;
``(ii) farmer outreach and education;
``(iii) forester outreach and education;
``(iv) convening of the scientific
community for the purposes of coordinating
scientific research methodologies and data sets
related to priority resource concerns
identified in the agreement;
``(v) coordination of municipal and State
policies with on-farm practices;
``(vi) facilitating trainings; and
``(vii) other activities as determined by
the Secretary that facilitate peer learning
oriented around priority resource concerns
identified in the agreement.
``(B) Submit to the Secretary, in addition to any
information that the Secretary requires to prepare the
report under section 3871e(b) of this title, an annual
report that describes the status of the project,
including a description of--
``(i) the use of the funds awarded under
paragraph (3);
``(ii) any subcontracts awarded;
``(iii) the producers receiving funding
through the funding agreement under paragraph
(3);
``(iv)(I) the progress made by the project
in addressing each natural resource concern
defined in the funding agreement under
paragraph (3), including in a quantified form
to the extent practicable; and
``(II) as appropriate, other outcomes of
the project; and
``(v) any other reporting data the
Secretary determines are necessary to ensure
compliance with the program rules.
``(5) Waiver.--With respect to a project funded under the
initiative established under paragraph (2), the Secretary may
waive any requirement under the program that limits the
percentage of program funding that may be used for technical
assistance, or requires a minimum percentage of program funding
to be used for financial assistance, such that up to 100
percent of the funding provided for the project may be used for
technical assistance, if the grant agreement entered into under
paragraph (3)(B) with respect to that project includes a plan
to promote the availability of covered programs to agricultural
producers.''.
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