[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2603 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2603

   To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to streamline conservation 
              practice standards, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 27, 2023

Ms. Ernst (for herself, Mr. Heinrich, Mr. Marshall, and Ms. Klobuchar) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
           Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to streamline conservation 
              practice standards, 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 ``Streamlining Conservation Practice 
Standards Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. CONSERVATION INNOVATION GRANTS AND PAYMENTS.

    Section 1240H of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3939aa-8) 
is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(1)--
                    (A) by striking ``pay the cost of'' and inserting 
                ``award'';
                    (B) by inserting ``the development and evaluation 
                of new and'' before ``innovative approaches''; and
                    (C) by inserting ``, including for the purpose of 
                incorporating innovation and new technologies into 
                existing conservation practice standards or 
                establishing new conservation practice standards'' 
                before the period at the end; and
            (2) in subsection (d)(2)(A)--
                    (A) in clause (i)--
                            (i) by striking ``practices'' and inserting 
                        ``practices, including both management and 
                        structural practices,''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``and'' at the end;
                    (B) by redesignating clause (ii) as clause (iii);
                    (C) by inserting after clause (i) the following:
                            ``(ii) evaluation data for new and emerging 
                        technology and recommendations for State and 
                        regional applications; and''; and
                    (D) in clause (iii) (as so redesignated), by 
                striking ``practices.'' and inserting ``practices for 
                consideration through the process established under 
                section 1242(h)(3).''.

SEC. 3. CONSERVATION STANDARDS AND REQUIREMENTS.

    Section 1241(j)(1) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 
3841(j)(1)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(D) a schedule for the revision of existing, and 
                establishment of new, conservation practice standards 
                under section 1242(h).''.

SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT AND REVIEW OF CONSERVATION PRACTICE STANDARDS.

    Section 1242(h) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 
3842(h)) is amended--
            (1) in the subsection heading, by inserting ``Establishment 
        and'' before ``Review'';
            (2) in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A)--
                            (i) by striking ``not later than 1 year 
                        after the date of enactment of the Agriculture 
                        Improvement Act of 2018'' and inserting ``not 
                        less frequently than once every 5 years'';
                            (ii) by inserting ``on a rolling basis,'' 
                        after ``standard,''; and
                            (iii) by striking ``that Act'' and 
                        inserting ``the Streamlining Conservation 
                        Practice Standards Act of 2023'';
                    (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end;
                    (C) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period at 
                the end and inserting a semicolon; and
                    (D) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(E) provide an opportunity for public input on 
                each conservation practice standard under review;
                    ``(F) publicly post a summary of comments received 
                under subparagraph (E) and decisions made or not made 
                due to those comments; and
                    ``(G) publish each revised conservation practice 
                standard.'';
            (3) by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the following:
            ``(3) Establishment of conservation practice standards.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the 
                date of enactment of the Streamlining Conservation 
                Practice Standards Act of 2023, the Secretary shall--
                            ``(i) develop, for the programs under this 
                        title, a streamlined, publicly accessible, 
                        administrative process for establishing, 
                        including proposing, reviewing, and adopting, 
                        interim conservation practice standards and 
                        conservation practice standards; and
                            ``(ii) publish a detailed description of 
                        the process developed under clause (i), 
                        including--
                                    ``(I) specific thresholds 
                                appropriate for expedited review; and
                                    ``(II) an associated timeline for 
                                the implementation of the review.
                    ``(B) Requirements.--Under the process established 
                under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall--
                            ``(i) consider conservation innovations and 
                        scientific and technological advancements, 
                        including from projects developed under section 
                        1240H;
                            ``(ii) allow State and local flexibility in 
                        the creation of--
                                    ``(I) interim conservation practice 
                                standards and supplements to existing 
                                conservation practice standards to 
                                address the considerations described in 
                                clause (i); and
                                    ``(II) partnership-led proposals 
                                for new and innovative techniques to 
                                facilitate implementing agreements and 
                                grants under this title;
                            ``(iii) solicit regular input from State 
                        technical committees established under section 
                        1261(a) for recommendations that identify 
                        innovations or advancements described in clause 
                        (i); and
                            ``(iv) allow for public submission of 
                        conservation practices for consideration as 
                        interim conservation practice standards.
                    ``(C) Priority updates.--The Secretary shall 
                prioritize the review of proposed interim conservation 
                practice standards and conservation practice standards 
                under the process established under subparagraph (A) 
                that--
                            ``(i) address underused conservation 
                        practice standards, including the Nutrient 
                        Management Standard; and
                            ``(ii) reduce the use of synthetic 
                        chemicals and fertilizers.
                    ``(D) Public information.--Under the process 
                established under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall 
                make publicly available information describing--
                            ``(i) what constitutes--
                                    ``(I) a conservation practice 
                                standard; and
                                    ``(II) an interim conservation 
                                practice standard;
                            ``(ii) the process by which the public can 
                        submit to the Secretary conservation practices 
                        for consideration as interim conservation 
                        practice standards, including a template and 
                        written instructions for how to submit a 
                        conservation practice for consideration;
                            ``(iii) the data, metrics, third-party or 
                        scientific information, and other relevant 
                        information that the Secretary needs to 
                        consider in the establishment of interim 
                        conservation practice standards;
                            ``(iv) the process by which an interim 
                        conservation practice standard becomes a 
                        conservation practice standard;
                            ``(v) the means by which the public can 
                        engage State technical committees established 
                        under section 1261(a) to consider interim 
                        conservation practice standards already in 
                        effect in other States; and
                            ``(vi) such other information as the 
                        Secretary determines to be appropriate.''; and
            (4) in paragraph (4)--
                    (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A)--
                            (i) by striking ``Agriculture Improvement 
                        Act of 2018'' and inserting ``Streamlining 
                        Conservation Practice Standards Act of 2023''; 
                        and
                            (ii) by striking ``Congress a report on--'' 
                        and inserting ``Congress and make publicly 
                        available on a website of the Department of 
                        Agriculture a report describing--'';
                    (B) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ``a detailed 
                description of'' before ``the administrative'';
                    (C) in subparagraph (B)--
                            (i) by striking ``or revised''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``and'' at the end;
                    (D) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period at 
                the end and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (E) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(D) such other information as the Secretary 
                determines to be appropriate with respect to improving 
                the process for reviewing and establishing conservation 
                practice standards.''.
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