[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3378 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 3378

To amend the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to improve 
     the Rural Energy for America Program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 30, 2023

   Mr. Welch introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to improve 
     the Rural Energy for America 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 ``Rural Energy Equity Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. RURAL ENERGY FOR AMERICA PROGRAM.

    Section 9007 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 
(7 U.S.C. 8107) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) in the subsection heading, by striking ``Energy 
                Audits and Renewable Energy'' and inserting 
                ``Project'';
                    (B) in paragraph (1)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ``, 
                        including for purposes of reducing the carbon 
                        footprint of the agricultural producer and 
                        rural small business'' before the semicolon; 
                        and
                            (ii) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ``, 
                        including for purposes of reducing the carbon 
                        footprint of the agricultural producer and 
                        rural small business'' before the period at the 
                        end;
                    (C) in paragraph (4)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (B), by redesignating 
                        clauses (i) and (ii) as subclauses (I) and 
                        (II), respectively, and indenting 
                        appropriately;
                            (ii) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and 
                        (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively, and 
                        indenting appropriately;
                            (iii) in the matter preceding clause (i) 
                        (as so redesignated), by striking ``A 
                        recipient'' and inserting the following:
                    ``(A) In general.--A recipient''; and
                            (iv) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(B) Multiple activities.--A recipient of a grant 
                under paragraph (1) may use the grant to carry out 1 or 
                more activities described in subparagraph (A).''; and
                    (D) in paragraph (6)--
                            (i) by striking ``A recipient'' and 
                        inserting the following:
                    ``(A) In general.--A recipient''; and
                            (ii) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(B) Underserved producers and businesses.--If the 
                agricultural producer or rural small business under 
                subparagraph (A) is an underserved agricultural 
                producer or rural small business, the amount paid by 
                that underserved agricultural producer or rural small 
                business pursuant to that subparagraph shall be at 
                least 10 percent of the cost of the energy audit.'';
            (2) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) in paragraph (3)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (A)--
                                    (I) by striking ``The amount of a 
                                grant under this subsection shall not 
                                exceed 25 percent'' and inserting the 
                                following:
                            ``(i) In general.--Except as provided in 
                        clause (ii), the amount of a grant under this 
                        subsection shall not exceed 50 percent''; and
                                    (II) by adding at the end the 
                                following:
                            ``(ii) Underserved producers.--The amount 
                        of a grant provided under this subsection to an 
                        agricultural producer who is a beginning farmer 
                        or rancher, a veteran farmer or rancher (as 
                        those terms are defined in section 2501(a) of 
                        the Food, Agriculture, Conservation and Trade 
                        Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 2279(a))), or an 
                        underserved farmer or rancher shall not exceed 
                        75 percent of the cost of the activity funded 
                        by the grant.'';
                            (ii) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) and 
                        (D) as subparagraphs (D) and (E), respectively;
                            (iii) by inserting after subparagraph (B) 
                        the following:
                    ``(C) Maximum percentage of loan guarantee.--The 
                portion of a loan that the Secretary may guarantee 
                under this subsection shall be--
                            ``(i) in the case of a loan in an amount 
                        that is less than $1,000,000, 90 percent of the 
                        principal amount of the loan; and
                            ``(ii) in the case of a loan in an amount 
                        that is not less than $1,000,000, 80 percent of 
                        the principal amount of the loan.''; and
                            (iv) in subparagraph (E) (as so 
                        redesignated), by striking ``subsection (f)'' 
                        and inserting ``subsection (g)'';
                    (B) in paragraph (4)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``3-
                        tiered'' and inserting ``2-tiered'';
                            (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 
                        ``$80,000'' and inserting ``$150,000'';
                            (iii) by striking subparagraph (C);
                            (iv) by redesignating subparagraphs (D) and 
                        (E) as subparagraphs (C) and (D), respectively;
                            (v) in subparagraph (C) (as so 
                        redesignated), in the subparagraph heading, by 
                        striking ``3'' and inserting ``2''; and
                            (vi) in subparagraph (D) (as so 
                        redesignated)--
                                    (I) by striking ``The Secretary'' 
                                and inserting the following:
                            ``(i) In general.--The Secretary'';
                                    (II) in clause (i) (as so 
                                designated), by striking ``tier I 
                                projects and more comprehensive for 
                                each subsequent tier'' and inserting 
                                ``tier 1 projects and more 
                                comprehensive for tier 2 projects''; 
                                and
                                    (III) by adding at the end the 
                                following:
                            ``(ii) Scoring.--The Secretary shall 
                        establish a scoring mechanism for tier 1 
                        project applications that is designed to 
                        increase program utilization by small- and 
                        medium-sized farmers.'';
            (3) by redesignating subsections (d), (e), and (f) as 
        subsections (e), (f), and (g), respectively;
            (4) by inserting after subsection (c) the following:
    ``(d) Regional Demonstration Projects.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall carry out regional 
        demonstration projects that incentivize agricultural producers 
        to reduce their carbon footprint or overall carbon equivalent 
        emissions to the maximum extent practicable through the use of 
        energy efficiency improvements and renewable energy systems.
            ``(2) Publicization.--The Secretary shall publicize the 
        results of the regional demonstration projects carried out 
        under paragraph (1).'';
            (5) in subsection (e) (as so redesignated)--
                    (A) by striking ``The Secretary shall'' and 
                inserting ``Using funds made available under subsection 
                (g)(4), the Secretary shall''; and
                    (B) by inserting ``or provided, as applicable,'' 
                after ``conducted'';
            (6) in subsection (f) (as so redesignated)--
                    (A) by striking ``subsection (f)'' each place it 
                appears and inserting ``subsection (g)''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (1)--
                            (i) by striking ``20 percent'' and 
                        inserting ``25 percent''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``$20,000'' and inserting 
                        ``$75,000''; and
            (7) in subsection (g) (as so redesignated)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by striking subparagraphs (A) 
                through (E) and inserting the following:
                    ``(A) $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2014 
                through 2023;
                    ``(B) $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2024;
                    ``(C) $150,000,000 for fiscal year 2025;
                    ``(D) $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2026;
                    ``(E) $250,000,000 for fiscal year 2027; and
                    ``(F) $300,000,000 for fiscal year 2028 and each 
                fiscal year thereafter.'';
                    (B) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the 
                following:
            ``(2) Project development assistance funding.--Of the funds 
        made available for each fiscal year under paragraph (1) or any 
        other funds made available to carry out this section, not less 
        than 5 percent shall be made available to carry out subsection 
        (b).''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(4) Administrative expenses.--Of the funds made available 
        to carry out this section for a fiscal year, the Secretary 
        shall use not more than 8 percent for administrative expenses.
            ``(5) Reservation of funds.--Of the funds made available to 
        carry out this section for a fiscal year, the Secretary may 
        reserve--
                    ``(A) not more than 15 percent for awarding grants 
                under subsection (c) that support the adoption of 
                underutilized but proven commercial technologies; and
                    ``(B) not more that 5 percent to carry out 
                subsection (d).''.
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