[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5354 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5354

  To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to require the Secretary of 
    Agriculture to establish a small farm EQIP subprogram under the 
   environmental quality incentives program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 8, 2023

Ms. Caraveo (for herself, Mr. Vasquez, Ms. Slotkin, and Ms. Pettersen) 
 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 a small farm EQIP subprogram under the 
   environmental quality incentives program, 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 ``Small Farm Conservation Act''.

SEC. 2. SMALL FARM EQIP SUBPROGRAM.

    Section 1240B of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa-2) 
is amended--
            (1) in subsection (d)--
                    (A) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the 
                following:
            ``(1) Availability; minimum amount.--
                    ``(A) Availability.--A payment provided to a 
                producer under the program shall be used to implement 1 
                or more practices under the program.
                    ``(B) Minimum amount.--The amount of a payment 
                provided to a producer under the program shall be not 
                less than $2,500.'';
                    (B) in paragraph (2), in the matter preceding 
                subparagraph (A), by striking ``A payment'' and 
                inserting ``Subject to paragraph (1)(B), a payment''; 
                and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(8) Soil health management system payments.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Notwithstanding paragraph (2), 
                the Secretary shall increase the amount that would 
                otherwise be provided for practices comprising a soil 
                health management system on a farm by 50 percent for 
                any application for a soil health management system on 
                an operation of not more than 50 acres.
                    ``(B) Rapid and streamlined application and 
                contract approval.--The Secretary shall provide 
                payments under this paragraph on a continuous 
                enrollment basis, using a rapid and streamlined 
                application and contract approval process.'';
            (2) in subsection (f), by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Small farm eqip subprogram.--
                    ``(A) Total funding.--For each of fiscal years 2024 
                through 2028, not less than $100,000,000 of the funds 
                made available for payments under the program shall be 
                used to carry out the subprogram established under 
                subsection (k).
                    ``(B) Technical and financial assistance.--Of the 
                amounts made available under subparagraph (A)--
                            ``(i) 35 percent shall be used to ensure 
                        the provision of tailored technical assistance 
                        for small-scale agricultural producers by--
                                    ``(I) hiring new Natural Resources 
                                Conservation Service staff who are 
                                familiar with the unique conservation 
                                challenges faced by small-scale 
                                agricultural producers;
                                    ``(II) training current Natural 
                                Resources Conservation Service field 
                                staff regarding the challenges 
                                described in subclause (I); and
                                    ``(III) ensuring sufficient Natural 
                                Resources Conservation Service staffing 
                                levels to deliver a streamlined and 
                                expedited application and contracting 
                                experience to small-scale agricultural 
                                producers; and
                            ``(ii) 65 percent shall be used to provide 
                        financial assistance directly to small-scale 
                        agricultural producers.''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(k) Small Farm EQIP Subprogram.--
            ``(1) In general.--In each State, the Secretary shall 
        establish under the program a subprogram, under which the 
        Secretary shall--
                    ``(A) provide financial and technical assistance to 
                small-scale agricultural producers that enter into 
                contracts with the Secretary under the subprogram;
                    ``(B) conduct outreach to small-scale agricultural 
                producers to increase participation in the subprogram; 
                and
                    ``(C) provide to field staff of the Natural 
                Resources Conservation Service training and education 
                regarding the specific conservation needs of small-
                scale agricultural producers.
            ``(2) Payments.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall determine 
                whether a small-scale agricultural producer is eligible 
                to receive payments under this subsection--
                            ``(i) on a State-by-State basis, subject to 
                        subparagraph (C);
                            ``(ii) in consultation with the technical 
                        committee established under section 1261(a) of 
                        the State in which the small-scale agricultural 
                        producer is located; and
                            ``(iii) based on--
                                    ``(I) the operations of a small-
                                scale agricultural producer, including 
                                with respect to farm size and gross 
                                sales;
                                    ``(II) demographic data compiled by 
                                the National Agricultural Statistics 
                                Service relating to small-scale 
                                agricultural producers, including--
                                            ``(aa) historically 
                                        underserved farmers, ranchers, 
                                        and forest owners, including--

                                                    ``(AA) veteran 
                                                farmers and ranchers;

                                                    ``(BB) limited-
                                                resource farmers, 
                                                ranchers, and forest 
                                                owners;

                                                    ``(CC) beginning 
                                                farmers and ranchers; 
                                                and

                                                    ``(DD) socially 
                                                disadvantaged farmers; 
                                                and

                                            ``(bb) farmers, ranchers, 
                                        and forest owners operating in 
                                        high-poverty areas;
                                    ``(III) the applicable advanced 
                                payment requirements under subsection 
                                (d)(4); and
                                    ``(IV) other relevant information, 
                                as determined by the Secretary.
                    ``(B) Amount.--The Secretary shall provide payments 
                under this subsection to a producer that is eligible 
                for the payments under subparagraph (A) in such amount 
                as the Secretary determines--
                            ``(i) achieves the purposes described in 
                        subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1);
                            ``(ii) addresses natural resource concerns 
                        relating to production on small-scale 
                        agricultural operations; and
                            ``(iii) is in accordance with any 
                        applicable increased payment requirements under 
                        subsection (d)(4).
                    ``(C) Size requirements.--
                            ``(i) In general.--To be eligible to 
                        receive a payment under subparagraph (A) (other 
                        than a payment described in clause (ii)), the 
                        farm size of an agricultural producer may not 
                        exceed the median farm size of the State in 
                        which the producer is located, based on 
                        aggregate data published by the National 
                        Agricultural Statistics Service.
                            ``(ii) Livestock and pasture management 
                        payments.--To be eligible to receive a 
                        livestock or pasture management payment under 
                        subparagraph (A), the herd size of an 
                        agricultural producer may not exceed the median 
                        herd size of the State in which the producer is 
                        located, based on aggregate data published by 
                        the National Agricultural Statistics Service.
            ``(3) Applications.--
                    ``(A) In general.--To be eligible to receive 
                financial and technical assistance under this 
                subsection, a producer that is eligible for the 
                assistance under paragraph (2)(A) shall submit to the 
                Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, 
                and containing such information as the Secretary may 
                require.
                    ``(B) Administration.--To the maximum extent 
                practicable, the Secretary shall limit the 
                administrative burdens, and the regulatory barriers 
                that contribute to administrative burdens, on producers 
                applying for payments under this subsection.
                    ``(C) Rapid and streamlined application and 
                contract approval.--The Secretary shall provide 
                payments under this paragraph on a continuous 
                enrollment basis, using a rapid and streamlined 
                application and contract approval process.
            ``(4) Subprogram coordinators.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), the 
                Secretary shall designate--
                            ``(i) a national subprogram coordinator; 
                        and
                            ``(ii) a subprogram coordinator in each 
                        State.
                    ``(B) Requirements.--At the time of designation 
                under subparagraph (A), a national or State subprogram 
                coordinator shall be--
                            ``(i) an employee of the Natural Resources 
                        Conservation Service; and
                            ``(ii) responsible for, on a national or 
                        statewide basis, respectively--
                                    ``(I) public outreach relating to 
                                the subprogram;
                                    ``(II) assisting producers in the 
                                submission of applications under the 
                                subprogram;
                                    ``(III) distributing financial and 
                                technical assistance under this 
                                subsection; and
                                    ``(IV) submitting to the Secretary 
                                annual recommendations with respect to 
                                additional conservation practice 
                                standards and activities required to 
                                better serve small-scale agricultural 
                                producers.
            ``(5) Language requirements.--The Secretary shall publish 
        any outreach materials for small-scale agricultural producers 
        relating to the subprogram under this subsection simultaneously 
        in--
                    ``(A) English; and
                    ``(B) such additional languages as the Secretary 
                determines to be appropriate for each applicable State.
            ``(6) Report.--Not later than May 1, 2027, the Secretary 
        shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and 
        Forestry of the Senate and the Committee on Agriculture of the 
        House of Representatives a report describing the results of the 
        subprogram under this subsection, including--
                    ``(A) activities carried out under paragraph (3)(B) 
                to limit administrative burdens and regulatory 
                barriers; and
                    ``(B) to the maximum extent practicable, 
                demographic information relating to each small-scale 
                agricultural producer participating in the subprogram, 
                as the Secretary determines to be appropriate.''.
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