[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5061 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5061

To amend the Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act of 2004 to direct the 
    Secretary of Agriculture to establish a program under which the 
Secretary will award grants to eligible organizations to encourage the 
 development, maintenance, and expansion of commercial domestic market 
         for domestically produced specialty crop commodities.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 27, 2023

    Mr. Valadao (for himself, Mr. Soto, Mr. Costa, and Mr. LaMalfa) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                              Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act of 2004 to direct the 
    Secretary of Agriculture to establish a program under which the 
Secretary will award grants to eligible organizations to encourage the 
 development, maintenance, and expansion of commercial domestic market 
         for domestically produced specialty crop commodities.

    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 ``Specialty Crop Domestic Market 
Promotion and Development Program Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. SPECIALTY CROP DOMESTIC MARKET PROMOTION AND DEVELOPMENT 
              PROGRAM.

    Title II of the Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act of 2004 (7 
U.S.C. 7712a et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 204. SPECIALTY CROP DOMESTIC MARKET PROMOTION AND DEVELOPMENT 
              PROGRAM.

    ``(a) In General.--For purposes of encouraging the development, 
maintenance, and expansion of the commercial domestic market for 
domestically produced specialty crop commodities, the Secretary of 
Agriculture, acting through the Administrator of the Agricultural 
Marketing Service, shall establish a program under which the Secretary 
will award grants to eligible organizations to implement a domestic 
market development program for specialty crops.
    ``(b) Application.--An eligible organization seeking a grant under 
this section shall submit to the Secretary--
            ``(1) an application at such time, in such manner, and 
        containing such information as the Secretary may require;
            ``(2) a marketing plan that meets the requirements of 
        subsection (c); and
            ``(3) a certification that any Federal funds received by 
        such organization under this section will supplement, but not 
        supplant, funds from non-Federal sources (including a private 
        entity) to carry out a domestic market development program for 
        specialty crops.
    ``(c) Marketing Plan.--
            ``(1) In general.--A marketing plan submitted under 
        subsection (b) shall--
                    ``(A) describe the advertising or other demand-
                oriented, generic domestic promotion activities to be 
                carried out by the eligible organization using funds 
                awarded through a grant under this section; and
                    ``(B) contain--
                            ``(i) a description of the manner in which 
                        funds received by the eligible organization 
                        through a grant under this section, in 
                        conjunction with funds and services provided by 
                        the eligible organization, will be expended in 
                        implementing the marketing plan;
                            ``(ii) the market goals to be achieved 
                        under the marketing plan; and
                            ``(iii) such additional information as may 
                        be required by the Secretary.
            ``(2) Amendments.--A marketing plan approved under this 
        section may be amended by the eligible organization submitting 
        such plan at any time, subject to the approval of the 
        Secretary.
    ``(d) Amount of Grant.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall justify, in writing, 
        the level of funds awarded through a grant to an eligible 
        organization and the level of matching funds to be required of 
        the organization.
            ``(2) Matching funds.--The recipient of a grant under this 
        section shall provide non-Federal matching funds equal to not 
        less than 25 percent of the amount of the grant, or such other 
        amount determined by the Secretary pursuant to paragraph (1).
            ``(3) In-kind support.--Non-Federal matching funds 
        described in paragraph (2) may include in-kind support.
    ``(e) Multiyear Basis.--The Secretary may provide assistance under 
this section on a multiyear basis. The Secretary shall conduct an 
annual review of any grant awarded on a multiyear basis to ensure that 
the eligible organization has complied with the marketing plan 
submitted under subsection (c).
    ``(f) Termination.--The Secretary may terminate any grant made, or 
to be made, under this section if the Secretary determines that the 
eligible organization receiving such grant--
            ``(1) is not adhering to the terms and conditions 
        applicable to the grant;
            ``(2) is not implementing the marketing plan submitted 
        under subsection (b) or is not adequately meeting the 
        established goals of the plan; or
            ``(3) is not adequately contributing its own resources to 
        the implementation of the plan.
    ``(g) Evaluations.--Beginning not later than 15 months after the 
first grant is awarded under this section to an eligible organization, 
the Secretary shall monitor the expenditures by eligible organizations 
made using grant funds, including the following:
            ``(1) A thorough accounting of such expenditures.
            ``(2) An evaluation of the effectiveness of the marketing 
        plan of the eligible organization in developing, maintaining, 
        or expanding the commercial domestic market for specialty 
        crops.
    ``(h) Limitation on Use of Funds.--Funds received through a grant 
under this section may not be used--
            ``(1) to provide direct assistance to any domestic or 
        foreign for-profit corporation for the corporation's use in 
        promoting foreign-produced products; or
            ``(2) to provide direct assistance to any for-profit 
        corporation that is not recognized as a small business concern 
        (as described in section 3(a) of the Small Business Act (15 
        U.S.C. 632(a))), other than--
                    ``(A) a cooperative;
                    ``(B) an association described in the Act of 
                February 18, 1922 (7 U.S.C. 291); or
                    ``(C) a nonprofit trade association.
    ``(i) Audits.--If, as a result of an evaluation or audit of 
activities of an eligible organization using funds made available 
through a grant under this section, the Secretary determines that a 
further review is justified in order to ensure compliance with the 
requirements of this section, the Secretary shall require the eligible 
organization to contract for an independent audit of the activities 
carried out using funds awarded under a grant under this section, 
including activities of any subcontractor of an eligible organization.
    ``(j) Eligible Organization Defined.--In this section, the term 
`eligible organization' means--
            ``(1) a United States agricultural trade organization or 
        regional State-related organization that promotes the sale of 
        United States produced and grown specialty crops and that does 
        not profit directly from specific sales of United States 
        specialty crops;
            ``(2) a cooperative organization or State agency that 
        promotes the sale of United States produced and grown specialty 
        crops;
            ``(3) a private organization that promotes the sale of 
        United States produced and grown specialty crop commodities if 
        the Secretary determines that such organization would 
        significantly contribute to increased domestic purchases of 
        United States produced specialty crop commodities; or
            ``(4) specialty crop organizations operating under Federal 
        marketing orders.
    ``(k) Funding.--
            ``(1) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized 
        to be appropriated to carry out this section $75,000,000 for 
        fiscal year 2024 and each fiscal year thereafter.
            ``(2) Administrative expenses.--The Secretary may use funds 
        made available under paragraph (1) to carry out this section 
        for a fiscal year for expenses related to administering the 
        program under this section.''.
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