[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5500 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5500

  To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to require the Secretary of 
    Agriculture to establish an initiative to support peer learning 
 relating to a wide range of agriculture conservation activities, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 14, 2023

  Mr. Molinaro (for himself and Ms. Salinas) 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 an initiative to support peer learning 
 relating to a wide range of agriculture conservation 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 ``Peer Learning for Agriculture 
Conservation Education Act of 2023'' or the ``PLACE Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. PEER LEARNING FOR AGRICULTURE CONSERVATION EDUCATION.

    Section 1271C of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3871c) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(e) Peer Learning Initiative.--
            ``(1) Definition of peer learning.--In this subsection, the 
        term `peer learning' means an educational experience that 
        includes--
                    ``(A) farmer, rancher, or forester led information 
                sharing, education, or training activities that support 
                agricultural producers or foresters; or
                    ``(B) the provision of farmer, rancher, or forester 
                led technical assistance to agricultural producers or 
                foresters.
            ``(2) Establishment of initiative.--Not later than 1 year 
        after enactment, the Secretary shall establish an initiative to 
        support projects that provide to agricultural producers peer 
        learning opportunities relating to a wide range of agriculture 
        conservation activities, such as--
                    ``(A) activities or management systems, as 
                determined by the Secretary, that directly contribute 
                to improving soil health; and
                    ``(B) any other regional priority natural resource 
                concerns, as determined by the Secretary.
            ``(3) Grants.--
                    ``(A) In general.--In carrying out the initiative 
                established under paragraph (2), the Secretary shall 
                enter into not fewer than 5 grant agreements each 
                fiscal year to support peer learning projects in 
                accordance with that paragraph.
                    ``(B) Agreements.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The Secretary may enter 
                        into a grant agreement under subparagraph (A) 
                        with 1 or more eligible partners that are 
                        engaged in providing peer learning to 
                        agricultural producers.
                            ``(ii) Projects.--A grant agreement under 
                        subparagraph (A) may support any of the 
                        following:
                                    ``(I) Projects within or sponsored 
                                by a State.
                                    ``(II) Multistate projects.
                                    ``(III) Projects in a critical 
                                conservation area designated under 
                                section 1271F.
                    ``(C) Applications.--
                            ``(i) In general.--An organization 
                        described in subparagraph (B)(i) desiring to 
                        enter into a grant agreement under subparagraph 
                        (A) shall submit to the Secretary an 
                        application at such time, in such manner, and 
                        containing such information as the Secretary 
                        may require.
                            ``(ii) Multiple applicants.--An application 
                        under clause (i) may be submitted jointly by 
                        multiple organizations described in 
                        subparagraph (B)(i).
            ``(4) Duties of the eligible partner.--
                    ``(A) Entities that enter into an agreement with 
                the Secretary under paragraph (3)(B) shall use funding 
                for purposes related to coordinating peer learning 
                initiatives, such as--
                            ``(i) convening of stakeholders to achieve 
                        the goals of the contractual partnership with 
                        NRCS through the Program;
                            ``(ii) farmer outreach and education;
                            ``(iii) forester outreach and education;
                            ``(iv) convening of the scientific 
                        community for the purposes of coordinating 
                        scientific research methodologies and data sets 
                        related to priority resource concerns 
                        identified in the agreement;
                            ``(v) coordination of municipal and State 
                        policies with on-farm practices;
                            ``(vi) facilitating trainings; and
                            ``(vii) other activities as determined by 
                        the Secretary that facilitate peer learning 
                        oriented around priority resource concerns 
                        identified in the agreement.
                    ``(B) Submit to the Secretary, in addition to any 
                information that the Secretary requires to prepare the 
                report under section 3871e(b) of this title, an annual 
                report that describes the status of the project, 
                including a description of--
                            ``(i) the use of the funds awarded under 
                        paragraph (3);
                            ``(ii) any subcontracts awarded;
                            ``(iii) the producers receiving funding 
                        through the funding agreement under paragraph 
                        (3);
                            ``(iv)(I) the progress made by the project 
                        in addressing each natural resource concern 
                        defined in the funding agreement under 
                        paragraph (3), including in a quantified form 
                        to the extent practicable; and
                            ``(II) as appropriate, other outcomes of 
                        the project; and
                            ``(v) any other reporting data the 
                        Secretary determines are necessary to ensure 
                        compliance with the program rules.
            ``(5) Waiver.--With respect to a project funded under the 
        initiative established under paragraph (2), the Secretary may 
        waive any requirement under the program that limits the 
        percentage of program funding that may be used for technical 
        assistance, or requires a minimum percentage of program funding 
        to be used for financial assistance, such that up to 100 
        percent of the funding provided for the project may be used for 
        technical assistance, if the grant agreement entered into under 
        paragraph (3)(B) with respect to that project includes a plan 
        to promote the availability of covered programs to agricultural 
        producers.''.
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