[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 732 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 732
To amend the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act
of 1998 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a national
biochar research network, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 9, 2023
Mr. Grassley (for himself, Mr. Tester, Mr. Thune, and Mr. Brown)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act
of 1998 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a national
biochar research network, 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 ``Biochar Research Network Act of
2023''.
SEC. 2. NATIONAL BIOCHAR RESEARCH NETWORK.
Title IV of the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education
Reform Act of 1998 is amended by inserting before section 404 (7 U.S.C.
7624) the following:
``SEC. 403. NATIONAL BIOCHAR RESEARCH NETWORK.
``(a) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish a national
biochar research network (referred to in this section as the `research
network') of not more than 20 research sites or facilities described in
subsection (c) to test the full range of biochar types across soil
types, soil health and soil management conditions, application methods,
and climatic and agronomic regions--
``(1) to assess the soil carbon sequestration potential of
various biochars and management systems integrating biochar
use;
``(2) to understand how to use biochar productively to
contribute to climate mitigation, crop production, resilience
to extreme weather events, ecosystem and soil health, natural
resource conservation, and farm profitability; and
``(3) to deliver science-based, region-specific, cost-
effective, and practical information to farmers, ranchers,
foresters, land reclamation managers, urban land managers, and
other land and natural resource managers and businesses on
sustainable biochar production and application.
``(b) Scope.--
``(1) In general.--The research network shall encompass--
``(A) agriculture, horticulture, rangeland,
forestry, and other biochar uses; and
``(B) a broad range of feedstocks, production
processes, and application treatments.
``(2) Research.--The research conducted by the research
network shall include--
``(A) cross-site and mechanistic experiments--
``(i) to fill critical knowledge gaps and
gain a more complete understanding of the
impact of various types of biochar in varying
site conditions on soil properties, plant
growth, greenhouse gas emissions, and carbon
sequestration in different soils, climates, and
other natural and agronomic conditions;
``(ii) to provide mechanistic and
technoeconomic insights on thermochemical
conversion processes in biochar production and
the coproduction of biochar and bioenergy,
including interactions of feedstock properties
with reactor conditions and processes on the
relative proportions and properties of biochar,
biofuels, and value-added coproducts, as well
as process efficiency;
``(iii) to generate data to develop,
calibrate, and validate robust mechanistic
models to predict the full life cycle of
greenhouse gas, crop response, and related
agronomic and environmental implications of
particular applications of biochar;
``(iv) to generate data to help guide the
design of new, more efficient biochar and
bioenergy production reactors and
biorefineries; and
``(v) to generate data to develop,
calibrate, and validate testing methodologies
for biochar to identify potential contaminants
or other factors that may cause unintended
consequences; and
``(B) site-specific farm and forestry systems
assessments and pilot-scale biochar production and
application systems--
``(i) to refine the most promising soil-
based uses, sources, and methods of producing
and applying biochar in particular regions--
``(I) to enhance productivity;
``(II) to increase profitability,
scalability, and portability;
``(III) to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions;
``(IV) to improve ecosystem and
soil health;
``(V) to strengthen resilience to
extreme weather events; and
``(VI) to explore soil, crop,
climate, management, and biochar
interactions;
``(ii) to develop new knowledge to support
decisions on sustainable production and use of
biochar;
``(iii) to collect relevant data needed for
full life cycle greenhouse gas and economic
analyses and complete those analysis;
``(iv) to predict plant response, soil
health, soil carbon sequestration, ecosystem
health, water quality, greenhouse gas, and
economic outcomes for specific implementations
of biochar technology;
``(v) to provide data to evaluate local
biomass feedstocks, support selection of
sustainable biochar production methods, and
address biochar production issues; and
``(vi) to share research results to inform
farmers, horticulturalists, ranchers,
foresters, urban biochar users, extension
agents and specialists, and technical
assistance providers on the most advantageous
ways to use biochar to increase profitability,
raise productivity, lower costs, improve soil
and plant health, and enhance resilience to
extreme weather events while contributing to
carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas
reductions.
``(c) Eligibility.--An entity shall be eligible to be selected to
conduct research as part of the research network if the entity is--
``(1) a State agricultural experiment station or a State
forestry experiment station;
``(2) a research facility of the Agricultural Research
Service, the Forest Service, or any other agency of the
Department of Agriculture that the Secretary determines to be
appropriate; or
``(3) a research facility of the Department of Energy, the
Department of Commerce, or the Department of the Interior.
``(d) Administration.--
``(1) In general.--The research network shall be
administered by the Administrator of the Agricultural Research
Service, in partnership with--
``(A) the Chief of the Forest Service;
``(B) the Director of the National Institute of
Food and Agriculture;
``(C) the Secretary of Energy;
``(D) the Secretary of Commerce;
``(E) the Secretary of the Interior; and
``(F) such other agencies of the Department of
Agriculture as the Secretary determines to be
appropriate.
``(2) Conservation.--The Secretary, acting through the
Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service--
``(A) may develop or revise practice standards
informed by the research conducted by the research
network; and
``(B) shall coordinate the activities of the
research network with--
``(i) the development, expansion, and
refinement of conservation practice standards
for biochar production and use for soil and
forest health, climate adaptation and
mitigation, and other conservation purposes;
and
``(ii) improvements and expansion of
conservation program technical and financial
support for biochar production, application,
and integration into soil health management
systems and other conservation approaches.
``(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated to carry out this section $50,000,000 for each of fiscal
years 2023 through 2028.''.
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