[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5915 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5915

 To amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to 
improve the Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 10, 2023

 Ms. Adams (for herself, Ms. Brown, Ms. Lee of California, Mr. Jackson 
  of Illinois, Ms. Williams of Georgia, Ms. Norton, Ms. Crockett, Mr. 
Davis of Illinois, Mr. Payne, Ms. Slotkin, Mr. Raskin, Mr. Gottheimer, 
    Mr. McGovern, and Ms. Jackson Lee) introduced the following bill

                            October 25, 2023

                Referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to 
improve the Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production, 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 ``Supporting Urban and Innovative 
Farming Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. OFFICE OF URBAN AGRICULTURE AND INNOVATIVE PRODUCTION.

    Section 222 of the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 
1994 (7 U.S.C. 6923) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in paragraph (3)(C), by inserting ``controlled-
                environment agriculture, such as'' before ``indoor'';
                    (B) in paragraph (4)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (F), by striking 
                        ``and'' at the end;
                            (ii) in subparagraph (G), by striking the 
                        period at the end and inserting a semicolon; 
                        and
                            (iii) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(H) leveraging the Department and State, Tribal, 
                and local agencies to provide technical assistance for 
                business incorporation, navigating local zoning, and 
                managing farm tract numbers for smaller, noncontiguous 
                parcels to growers implementing activities described in 
                paragraph (3);
                    ``(I) leveraging the Department and State, Tribal, 
                and local agencies to promote conservation techniques 
                unique to urban agriculture and innovative production, 
                including techniques that address stormwater runoff and 
                the impacted nature of urban land and the subsurface of 
                the land; and
                    ``(J) assisting urban, innovative, and controlled-
                environment agriculture producers to navigate Federal, 
                State, Tribal, and local policies and regulations that 
                impact business or operations.''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(5) Cooperative agreements.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Director may enter into 
                cooperative agreements with eligible entities described 
                in subparagraph (B) to support the implementation of 
                responsibilities described in paragraph (4).
                    ``(B) Eligible entities.--An eligible entity 
                referred to in subparagraph (A) is--
                            ``(i) a nonprofit organization;
                            ``(ii) an agricultural cooperative;
                            ``(iii) an Indian Tribe; or
                            ``(iv) a producer network or association.
                    ``(C) Priority.--In establishing cooperative 
                agreements under subparagraph (A), the Director shall 
                give priority to cooperative agreements with eligible 
                entities that--
                            ``(i) serve geographic areas with high 
                        concentrations of urban or suburban farms;
                            ``(ii) have established relationships with, 
                        or a history of serving, socially disadvantaged 
                        populations;
                            ``(iii) have experience working with 
                        individuals with limited English proficiency; 
                        or
                            ``(iv) demonstrate experience providing 
                        urban agriculture technical assistance in their 
                        geographic region.'';
            (2) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) in paragraph (5)(B), by striking ``2023'' and 
                inserting ``2028''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (7)(A), by striking ``the date 
                that'' and all that follows through ``paragraph 
                (2)(B)'' and inserting ``September 30, 2028'';
            (3) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the following:
    ``(c) Grants.--
            ``(1) Authorization.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Director shall award 
                competitive grants to support the development of urban 
                and innovative agricultural production that improves 
                access to local foods in areas where access to fresh, 
                healthy food is limited, including through community 
                gardens, urban farms, rooftop farms, urban 
                agroforestry, orchards, outdoor vertical production, 
                green walls, indoor farms, controlled-environment 
                agriculture, greenhouses, high-tech vertical 
                technology, hydroponics, aeroponics, and aquaponics.
                    ``(B) Microgrants.--An eligible entity may use 
                funds from a grant under subparagraph (A) to provide 
                microgrants to urban and innovative producers to 
                support the growth of the farm or farm business of the 
                urban and innovative producer.
            ``(2) Eligible entities.--An entity eligible to receive a 
        grant under paragraph (1)(A) is any of the following:
                    ``(A) A nonprofit organization.
                    ``(B) A unit of local government.
                    ``(C) A Tribal government.
                    ``(D) An agricultural cooperative or other 
                agricultural business entity or a producer network or 
                association, including a community-supported 
                agriculture network or association.
                    ``(E) Any school that serves any of grades 
                kindergarten through grade 12.
            ``(3) Priority.--In awarding grants under subparagraph (A) 
        of paragraph (1), the Director shall give priority to 
        applications from eligible entities that plan to use the grant 
        funds to provide microgrants in accordance with subparagraph 
        (B) of that paragraph.'';
            (4) in subsection (d)--
                    (A) in the subsection heading, by striking ``Pilot 
                Projects'' and inserting ``Projects'';
                    (B) in paragraph (1)(C), in the matter preceding 
                clause (i), by striking ``2023'' and inserting 
                ``2028''; and
                    (C) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (A)--
                                    (I) by striking ``shall carry out 
                                pilot projects under which the 
                                Secretary''; and
                                    (II) by inserting ``and construct 
                                at-scale composting or anaerobic 
                                digestion food waste-to-energy 
                                projects'' after ``food waste reduction 
                                plans'';
                            (ii) in subparagraph (B)--
                                    (I) in the subparagraph heading, by 
                                striking ``pilot'';
                                    (II) in the matter preceding clause 
                                (i), by inserting ``Indian Tribes,'' 
                                after ``counties,'';
                                    (III) by redesignating clauses (vi) 
                                through (viii) as clauses (vii) through 
                                (ix), respectively; and
                                    (IV) by inserting after clause (v) 
                                the following:
                            ``(vi) develop food waste-to-energy 
                        operations;'';
                            (iii) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) 
                        through (E) as subparagraphs (D) through (F), 
                        respectively;
                            (iv) by inserting after subparagraph (B) 
                        the following:
                    ``(C) Limitation.--An entity that receives 
                assistance under this paragraph may not use that 
                assistance for an anaerobic digester that uses manure 
                as the majority of its undigested biomass.''; and
                            (v) by striking ``pilot'' each place it 
                        appears; and
            (5) by striking subsection (e) and inserting the following:
    ``(e) Mandatory Funding.--Of the funds of the Commodity Credit 
Corporation, the Secretary shall use to carry out this section--
            ``(1) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2024;
            ``(2) $22,000,000 for fiscal year 2025;
            ``(3) $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2026;
            ``(4) $40,000,000 for fiscal year 2027; and
            ``(5) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2028.''.

SEC. 3. AGRICULTURE AND FOOD RESEARCH INITIATIVE.

    Section 2(b)(2)(E) of the Competitive, Special, and Facilities 
Research Grants Act (7 U.S.C. 3157(b)(2)(E)) is amended--
            (1) in clause (iv), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in clause (v), by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(vi) hydroponics, aquaponics, aeroponics, 
                        and other production technologies used in 
                        controlled-environment agriculture 
                        production.''.

SEC. 4. WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, EDUCATION, AND CERTIFICATION.

    Section 1672E(a) of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade 
Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5925g(a)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (7), by striking ``or'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (8), by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting ``; or''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(9) in collaboration with the Office of Urban Agriculture 
        and Innovative Production established under section 222 of the 
        Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 
        6923), advise land-grant colleges and universities (as defined 
        in section 1404 of the National Agricultural Research, 
        Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3103), 
        minority-serving institutions (as described in section 371(a) 
        of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1067q(a)), 
        junior or community colleges (as that term is defined in 
        section 312(f) of such Act), and vocational schools with 
        respect to career and technical education, including--
                    ``(A) workforce development programs;
                    ``(B) professional credentialing; and
                    ``(C) the specialized curricula, developed in 
                coordination with the National Institute of Food and 
                Agriculture, non-profit organizations, and trade 
                associations.''.

SEC. 5. DATA COLLECTION ON URBAN, INDOOR, AND EMERGING AGRICULTURAL 
              PRODUCTION.

    Section 1672E of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act 
of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5925g) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (e);
            (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the following:
    ``(d) Data Collection on Urban, Indoor, and Emerging Agricultural 
Production.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this subsection and biennially thereafter, the 
        Secretary, acting through the Director of the National 
        Agricultural Statistics Service, shall prepare and transmit to 
        the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the 
        Senate and the Committee on Agriculture of the House of 
        Representatives, and make publicly available, a report 
        containing data on urban, indoor, and other emerging 
        agricultural production, including data on--
                    ``(A) community gardens and farms located in urban 
                areas, suburbs, and urban clusters;
                    ``(B) rooftop farms, outdoor vertical production, 
                and green walls;
                    ``(C) controlled environment agriculture, indoor 
                farms, greenhouses, and high-tech vertical technology 
                farms;
                    ``(D) hydroponic, aeroponic, and aquaponic farm 
                facilities;
                    ``(E) other innovations in agricultural production, 
                as determined by the Secretary;
                    ``(F) the locations of the facilities described in 
                subparagraphs (A) through (E); and
                    ``(G) demographic information on the owners and 
                operators of those facilities.
            ``(2) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized 
        to be appropriated to carry out this subsection $14,000,000 for 
        the period of fiscal years 2024 through 2028.''; and
            (3) in subsection (e) (as so redesignated), by inserting 
        ``(other than subsection (d))'' after ``this section'' each 
        place it appears.
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