[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2199 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2199

    To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to establish a 
  pollinator-friendly plant labeling program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 22, 2023

   Mr. Merkley (for himself, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Heinrich, Mr. Welch, Mr. 
Padilla, Mr. Blumenthal, Mrs. Feinstein, and Mr. Booker) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                  Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to establish a 
  pollinator-friendly plant labeling 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 ``Pollinator-Friendly Plant Labeling 
Act''.

SEC. 2. POLLINATOR-FRIENDLY PLANT LABELING PROGRAM.

    Subtitle A of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1621 
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 210B. POLLINATOR-FRIENDLY PLANT LABELING PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Pesticide.--The term `pesticide' has the meaning 
        given the term in section 2103 of the Organic Foods Production 
        Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 6502).
            ``(2) Producer.--The term `producer' means a nursery or 
        farmer growing a plant or cultivating a seed for sale.
            ``(3) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means the Secretary 
        of Agriculture.
    ``(b) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish a certification 
program for producers of pollinator-friendly plants.
    ``(c) Certification.--
            ``(1) Applications.--To be certified under this section, a 
        producer may voluntarily submit to the Secretary an application 
        for the certification.
            ``(2) Approval.--The Secretary shall approve an application 
        for certification submitted under paragraph (1) if the 
        producer--
            ``(3) meets the requirements under this section; and
            ``(4) has been third-party certified.
    ``(d) Eligibility.--To be sold or labeled as a `USDA pollinator-
friendly' plant, a plant--
            ``(1) shall be living;
            ``(2) shall be, as determined by the Chief of the Natural 
        Resources Conservation Service--
                    ``(A) native to the United States; and
                    ``(B) known to be beneficial to pollinators, 
                including providing habitat and forage for pollinators; 
                and
            ``(3) may not have been produced using any pesticide or 
        substance (within the meaning of the term in the Organic Foods 
        Production Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.)) that may not be 
        used in the production or handling of organically produced 
        agricultural products under that Act.
    ``(e) Compliance Requirements.--
            ``(1) In general.--A person may sell or label a plant as 
        `USDA pollinator-friendly' only if the plant meets the 
        requirements under this section.
            ``(2) Labeling.--No person may affix a label to, or provide 
        other market information concerning, a plant if the label or 
        information implies, directly or indirectly, that the plant is 
        USDA pollinator-friendly, except in accordance with this 
        section.
    ``(f) Labeling.--A label affixed, or other market information 
provided, in accordance with subsection (e)(2)--
            ``(1) shall indicate that the plant meets Department of 
        Agriculture standards for being pollinator-friendly;
            ``(2) may incorporate the Department of Agriculture seal;
            ``(3) shall include the scientific name of the plant and 
        the common name of the plant, if any;
            ``(4) shall include the county or ecoregion that the plant 
        species is native to and locally adapted to;
            ``(5) shall include the name of the producer of the plant;
            ``(6) shall include an instruction that distributors and 
        retailers are not permitted to apply any pesticide product to 
        the plant;
            ``(7) shall include a statement relating to the importance 
        of supporting pollinator conservation efforts; and
            ``(8) may include--
                    ``(A) instructions for planting and maintaining the 
                plant to ensure its effectiveness as a resource for 
                pollinators;
                    ``(B) advice on protecting pollinators visiting the 
                plant from pesticide exposure; and
                    ``(C) a weblink or digital code, such as a quick 
                response (QR) code, to access a webpage with additional 
                educational information about the plant.
    ``(g) Investigations and Enforcement.--Subsections (b) and (c) of 
section 2120 of the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 
6519) shall apply to this section in the same manner that those 
subsections apply to that Act (7 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.).
    ``(h) Effect.--Nothing in this section supersedes or otherwise 
affects any State or Federal plant protection or plant quarantine 
program.''.
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