[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1272 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1272

To support State and tribal government efforts to promote research and 
     education related to maple syrup production, natural resource 
 sustainability in the maple syrup industry, market promotion of maple 
products, and greater access to lands containing maple trees for maple-
              sugaring activities, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 19, 2013

  Mr. Welch (for himself, Mr. Courtney, and Mr. Owens) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To support State and tribal government efforts to promote research and 
     education related to maple syrup production, natural resource 
 sustainability in the maple syrup industry, market promotion of maple 
products, and greater access to lands containing maple trees for maple-
              sugaring 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 ``Maple Tapping Access Program Act''.

SEC. 2. ACER ACCESS AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.

    (a) Grants Authorized.--The Secretary of Agriculture may make 
grants to States, tribal governments, and research institutions to 
support the efforts of such States, tribal governments, and research 
institutions to promote the domestic maple syrup industry through the 
following activities:
            (1) Promotion of research and education related to maple 
        syrup production.
            (2) Promotion of natural resource sustainability in the 
        maple syrup industry.
            (3) Market promotion for maple syrup and maple-sap 
        products.
            (4) Encouragement of owners and operators of privately-held 
        land containing species of trees in the genus Acer--
                    (A) to initiate or expand maple-sugaring activities 
                on the land; or
                    (B) to voluntarily make the land available, 
                including by lease or other means, for access by the 
                public for maple-sugaring activities.
    (b) Application.--In submitting an application for a grant under 
this section, a State or tribal government shall include--
            (1) a description of the activities to be supported using 
        the grant funds;
            (2) a description of the benefits that the State or tribal 
        government intends to achieve as a result of engaging in such 
        activities; and
            (3) an estimate of the increase in maple-sugaring 
        activities or maple syrup production that the State or tribal 
        government anticipates will occur as a result of engaging in 
        such activities.
    (c) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
construed so as to preempt a State or tribal government law, including 
a State or tribal government liability law.
    (d) Definition of Maple-Sugaring.--In this section, the term 
``maple-sugaring'' means the collection of sap from any species of tree 
in the genus Acer for the purpose of boiling to produce food.
    (e) Regulations.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall promulgate 
such regulations as are necessary to carry out this section.
    (f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $20,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2014 through 2018.
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