[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8198 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8198

 To reauthorize and improve the relending program to resolve ownership 
          and succession on farmland, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 1, 2024

  Mr. Bishop of Georgia (for himself and Mr. Davis of North Carolina) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                              Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To reauthorize and improve the relending program to resolve ownership 
          and succession on farmland, 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 ``Heirs Education and Investment to 
Resolve Succession of Property Act''.

SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF THE HEIRS PROPERTY INTERMEDIARY RELENDING 
              PROGRAM.

    Section 310I(g) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act 
(7 U.S.C. 1936c(g)) is amended by striking ``2023'' and inserting 
``2028''.

SEC. 3. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS FOR HEIRS PROPERTY RESOLUTION THROUGH 
              DIRECT PUBLIC INTEREST LEGAL SERVICES.

    Section 310I of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 
U.S.C. 1936c) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsections (f) and (g) as subsections 
        (g) and (h), respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (e) the following:
    ``(f) Cooperative Agreements for Heirs Property Resolution Through 
Direct Public Interest Legal Services.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall enter into 
        cooperative agreements with eligible entities to provide legal 
        or accounting services to underserved heirs, at no cost to the 
        underserved heirs, to assist in resolving issues related to 
        ownership and succession on farmland or forest land that has 
        multiple owners. Such a cooperative agreement must be for any 
        of the following purposes:
                    ``(A) To assist with transitioning land to 
                agricultural production.
                    ``(B) To maintain land in agricultural production.
                    ``(C) To increase access to programs administered 
                by the Secretary through the resolution of real 
                property claims in order to allow real property owners 
                to meet land ownership eligibility requirements for 
                participation in a program administered by the 
                Secretary.
            ``(2) Administration of cooperative agreements.--
                    ``(A) Duration.--
                            ``(i) In general.--A cooperative agreement 
                        under paragraph (1) shall be in effect for not 
                        more than 5 years, subject to clause (ii).
                            ``(ii) Special rule.--The Secretary may re-
                        enter into a cooperative agreement with the 
                        same or a different eligible entity to provide 
                        continued services for heirs if property 
                        ownership is not resolved within the initial 
                        term of the original cooperative agreement, and 
                        the entity certifies that the entity 
                        understands that the cooperative agreement is 
                        not guaranteed to be funded for more than 5 
                        years after the commencement of the original 
                        cooperative agreement.
                    ``(B) Management of performance.--
                            ``(i) Annual reports.--An eligible entity 
                        must provide annual reports to the Secretary 
                        summarizing the progress made during each 
                        fiscal year towards achieving the goals of the 
                        cooperative agreement for the heirs for whom 
                        services are provided under the cooperative 
                        agreement.
                            ``(ii) Information and data.--The Secretary 
                        may require an eligible entity to provide the 
                        Secretary with such information or data, other 
                        than personally identifiable information or 
                        data, as the Secretary deems necessary to 
                        determine that the eligible entity is making 
                        acceptable progress.
                            ``(iii) Effect of failure to demonstrate 
                        success.--If an eligible entity providing 
                        services under such a cooperative agreement 
                        does not demonstrate success, as determined by 
                        the Secretary, in resolving or reasonably 
                        attempting to resolve the property claims of an 
                        heir, the Secretary may terminate the 
                        agreement, or elect to not enter into a new 
                        cooperative agreement with the eligible entity 
                        after the initial term of the original 
                        cooperative agreement.
                    ``(C) Implementation.--The Secretary may utilize 
                requests for public input or the formal rulemaking 
                process to effectuate this subsection. At a minimum, 
                the Secretary shall make publicly available the 
                criteria for selecting an eligible entity to enter into 
                an agreement to provide services, the administrative 
                and performance requirements for cooperative agreements 
                under this subsection, as well as codify within its 
                internal policy its implementation process.
                    ``(D) Heirs property not in farming.--On a limited 
                basis, and when determined by the Secretary to meet the 
                purposes of a program administered by the Secretary and 
                to expand access to such a program, the Secretary may 
                allow an eligible entity to provide services at no cost 
                to an heir who is not an underserved heir if--
                            ``(i) the land with respect to which the 
                        services are to be provided is not farmland or 
                        in agricultural production, but could be viably 
                        productive for agricultural, conservation, or 
                        forestry purposes;
                            ``(ii) the heir satisfies all other 
                        requirements of the definition of `underserved 
                        heir';
                            ``(iii) the heir can provide proof to 
                        substantiate that the heir is in control of the 
                        real property; and
                            ``(iv) the heir certifies to the Secretary 
                        that the heir intends to apply for, and make a 
                        good faith effort to enroll the land in, a 
                        program administered by the Secretary once 
                        property claims to the land are resolved 
                        through services provided under a cooperative 
                        agreement entered into under this subsection.
            ``(3) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) Eligible entity.--The term `eligible entity' 
                means a nonprofit organization that--
                            ``(i) provides legal or accounting services 
                        to an underserved heir at no cost to the 
                        underserved heir; and
                            ``(ii) has demonstrated experience in 
                        resolving issues related to ownership and 
                        succession on farmland or forest land that has 
                        multiple owners.
                    ``(B) Limited resource heir.--An heir shall be 
                considered a limited resource heir for purposes of this 
                subsection if--
                            ``(i) the total household income of the 
                        heir is at or below the national poverty level 
                        for a family of 4, or less than 50 percent of 
                        the county median household income for the 2 
                        immediately preceding calendar years, as 
                        determined annually using data of the 
                        Department of Commerce; or
                            ``(ii) the property of the heir for which 
                        legal services are provided pursuant to a 
                        cooperative agreement entered into under this 
                        subsection is in a persistent poverty 
                        community, as determined annually on the basis 
                        of data from the Department of Commerce, or a 
                        socially vulnerable area, as designated by the 
                        Centers on Disease Control and Prevention.
                    ``(C) Underserved heir.--The term `underserved 
                heir' means an heir with an undivided ownership 
                interest in farmland that has multiple owners, who is--
                            ``(i) a limited resource heir;
                            ``(ii) a member of a socially disadvantaged 
                        group (as defined in section 2501(a) of the 
                        Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act 
                        of 1990); or
                            ``(iii) a veteran (as defined in section 
                        101(2) of title 38, United States Code).
            ``(4) Annual reports to congress.--Within 1 year after the 
        date of the enactment of this subsection, and annually 
        thereafter, the Secretary shall prepare, make public, and 
        submit to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of 
        Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, 
        and Forestry of the Senate a written report on the activities 
        carried out under this subsection in the year covered by the 
        report.
            ``(5) Limitations on authorization of appropriations.--
                    ``(A) In general.--To carry out this subsection, 
                there is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary 
                $60,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028.
                    ``(B) Limitation on use of funds for 
                administration.--The Secretary may expend for 
                administrative purposes not more than 3 percent of the 
                amounts made available under subparagraph (A).''.

SEC. 4. ANNUAL REPORT ON OPERATIONS AND OUTCOMES UNDER THE RELENDING 
              PROGRAM TO RESOLVE OWNERSHIP AND SUCCESSION ON FARMLAND.

    Section 310I(g) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, 
as so redesignated by section 3 of this Act, is amended by striking 
``Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, 
the Secretary shall'' and inserting ``The Secretary shall annually''.

SEC. 5. REPORTS ON LAND ACCESS AND FARMLAND OWNERSHIP DATA COLLECTION.

    Section 12607(c) of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (7 
U.S.C. 2204i(c)) is amended by striking ``2019 through 2023'' and 
inserting ``2024 through 2028''.
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