118th CONGRESS 1st Session |
To amend section 1242 of the Food Security Act of 1985 to enhance and update conservation practice standards, and for other purposes.
December 19, 2023
Ms. Spanberger (for herself and Mr. Nunn of Iowa) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture
To amend section 1242 of the Food Security Act of 1985 to enhance and update 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,
This Act may be cited as the “Streamlining Conservation Practice Standards Act”.
SEC. 2. Delivery of technical assistance.
Section 1242(h) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3842(h)) is amended—
(1) in the subsection heading, by striking “Review” and inserting “Establishment and review”;
(A) by amending subparagraph (A) to read as follows:
“(A) not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Streamlining Conservation Practice Standards Act, and at least every 5 years thereafter on a rolling basis, complete a review of each conservation practice standard, including engineering design specifications;”;
(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 a process for public input on each conservation practice standard under such review, including a process for consideration of State and local input;
“(F) publicly post a summary of any input received under subparagraph (E) and any decisions made relating to such input; and
“(G) revise any conservation practice standard based on the results of such review, as determined appropriate by the Secretary, and publish any such revised standard.”;
(3) by amending paragraph (3) to read as follows:
“(3) PROCESS FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF INTERIM AND NEW CONSERVATION PRACTICE STANDARDS.—
“(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Streamlining Conservation Practice Standards Act, the Secretary shall develop a streamlined process under which the Secretary shall establish interim conservation practice standards and new conservation practice standards.
“(B) DEVELOPMENT.—In developing the streamlined process under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall—
“(i) ensure that the public can engage with the Department of Agriculture, including by recommending interim conservation practice standards; and
“(I) the types of data, metrics, and other relevant information that are necessary for the establishment of interim conservation practice standards and new conservation practice standards;
“(II) the process by which an interim conservation practice standard may become a new conservation practice standard; and
“(III) specific requirements for an expedited review of a new conservation practice for the purpose of establishing a new conservation practice standard for such practice.
“(C) CONSIDERATIONS.—In establishing an interim conservation practice standard or a new conservation practice standard under this subsection, the Secretary shall consider—
“(i) input from State technical committees on recommendations that identify innovations or advancements in conservation practices;
“(ii) technological advancements, including advancements from projects developed under section 1240H; and
“(iii) State and local input in the form of—
“(I) recommendations for interim conservation practice standards; and
“(II) partnership-led proposals for new and innovative techniques to facilitate implementing agreements and grants under this title.
“(D) TRANSPARENCY.—The Secretary shall make available on a public website a detailed description of the process for recommending, reviewing, and establishing interim conservation practice standards and new conservation practice standards under this paragraph.”;
(A) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A)—
(i) by striking “Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018” and inserting “Streamlining Conservation Practice Standards Act”; and
(ii) by striking “a report on” and inserting “a report detailing”;
(B) in subparagraph (A), by striking “administrative” and inserting “streamlined”;
(C) in subparagraph (B), 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) any other information the Secretary determines useful to improve such streamlined process for reviewing and establishing conservation practice standards.”; and
(5) by adding at the end the following:
“(5) FUNDING.—The Secretary shall use funding from the annual appropriations for conservation operations of the Natural Resources Conservation Service to carry out this subsection.”.
SEC. 3. Commodity Credit Corporation.
Section 1241(j)(1)(A) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3841(j)(1)(A)) is amended by inserting “, including schedules for revising existing conservation practice standards and establishing interim conservation practice standards or new conservation practice standards under section 1242(h)” before the semicolon at the end.
SEC. 4. Conservation innovation grants and payments.
(a) Competitive grants for innovative conservation approaches.—Section 1240H(a)(1) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–8(a)(1)) is amended to read as follows:
“(1) GRANTS.—Out of the funds made available to carry out this subchapter, the Secretary may award competitive grants that are intended to stimulate development and evaluation of new and innovative approaches to leveraging the Federal investment in environmental enhancement and protection, in conjunction with agricultural production or forest resource management, through the program, including grants for the development and evaluation of new and innovative technologies that may be incorporated into conservation practice standards.”.
(b) Reporting and database.—Section 1240H(d)(2)(A) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–8(d)(2)(A)) is amended—
(A) by inserting “, including both management and structural conservation practices,” after “conservation practices”; and
(B) by striking “and” at the end;
(2) by redesignating clause (ii) as clause (iii);
(3) by inserting after clause (i) the following:
“(ii) data that may be used to evaluate new and emerging technologies and recommendations for State and regional applications of such new and emerging technologies; and”; and
(4) in clause (iii), as so redesignated, by inserting “for consideration under the streamlined process developed under section 1242(h)(3)” before the period at the end.