3.0.0 3420 2023-01-11T13:33:31Z 2023-01-11T13:33:31Z Senate S 2016-09-28 114 ssaf00 Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee Senate Standing Referred to 2016-09-28T21:21:36Z 2016-09-28 ssaf00 Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee Senate Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. IntroReferral 2016-09-28 Introduced in Senate IntroReferral 10000 9 Library of Congress S000770 Sen. Stabenow, Debbie [D-MI] Debbie Stabenow D MI N Agriculture and Food Agriculture and Food 00 2016-09-28 Introduced in Senate 2017-04-06T20:22:53Z Urban Agriculture Act of 2016

This bill amends several agricultural laws to establish an Office of Urban Agriculture within the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and make urban agricultural activities eligible to receive funding from various USDA programs.

The Office of Urban Agriculture must:

  • manage programs, coordinate agencies, and advise USDA on urban agriculture and urban food systems;
  • continue a community garden program; and
  • establish a rooftop agriculture and outdoor vertical production program.

The bill includes urban agricultural activities in several existing and new grant, loan, risk management, and research programs. It also authorizes and provides funding for several of the programs.

USDA must conduct various studies and collect specified data related to urban agriculture. USDA must also establish a voluntary farmer-to-farmer assistance and mentorship program.

USDA must take several actions related to soil assessment and remediation, including:

  • establishing a coordinated soil testing protocol,
  • coordinating and conducting research to inform the protocol and soil remediation practices with respect to soil contaminated with high levels of heavy metals or other contaminants, and
  • establishing a national soil testing and remediation program to provide related technical and financial assistance to agricultural producers.

The bill establishes pilot programs for USDA to: (1) increase municipal compost and food waste reduction activities; and (2) make grants for projects that strengthen marketplace links between healthy food consumption, good environmental practices, and direct public health outcomes.

]]> Urban Agriculture Act of 2016 Display Title Urban Agriculture Act of 2016 Official Title as Introduced A bill to promote urban agricultural production, and for other purposes. Introduced in Senate IS Short Titles as Introduced Urban Agriculture Act of 2016 Introduced in Senate 2016-09-28T04:00:00Z https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-114s3420is/xml/BILLS-114s3420is.xml 2016-09-28 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress This file contains bill summaries and statuses for federal legislation. A bill summary describes the most significant provisions of a piece of legislation and details the effects the legislative text may have on current law and federal programs. Bill summaries are authored by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress. As stated in Public Law 91-510 (2 USC 166 (d)(6)), one of the duties of CRS is "to prepare summaries and digests of bills and resolutions of a public general nature introduced in the Senate or House of Representatives". For more information, refer to the User Guide that accompanies this file.