I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 1592
To limit USDA funding for ground-mounted solar energy systems, and for
other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY26, 2025
Mr. B
OST(for himself, Mr. AUSTINSCOTTof Georgia, Mr. FINSTAD, and Mr.
T
AYLOR) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Agriculture
A BILL
To limit USDA funding for ground-mounted solar energy
systems, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Securing Our Lands 4
and Resources Act’’ or the ‘‘SOLAR Act’’. 5
SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON USDA FUNDING FOR GROUND- 6
MOUNTED SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEMS. 7
(a) D
EFINITIONS.— 8
(1) C
ONVERSION.—The term ‘‘conversion’’ 9
means, with respect to covered farmland, any activ-10
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ity that results in the covered farmland failing to 1
meet the requirements of a State (defined in section 2
343 of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Develop-3
ment Act (7 U.S.C. 1991)) for agricultural produc-4
tion, activity, or use. 5
(2) C
OVERED FARMLAND .—The term ‘‘covered 6
farmland’’ means farmland, as defined in section 7
1540(c)(1) of the Farmland Protection Policy Act (7 8
U.S.C. 4201(c)(1)). 9
(3) S
ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 10
the Secretary of Agriculture. 11
(b) I
NGENERAL.—The Secretary may not provide fi-12
nancial assistance for a project that would result in the 13
conversion of covered farmland for solar energy produc-14
tion. 15
(c) E
XCEPTION.—Subsection (b) shall not apply to 16
a project if the project— 17
(1) results in the conversion of less than 5 18
acres of covered farmland; 19
(2) results in the conversion of less than 50 20
acres of covered farmland, and the majority of the 21
energy produced by the project is for on-farm use; 22
or 23
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(3) has received a resolution of approval or sup-1
port, or other similar instrument from each county 2
and municipality in which the project is sited. 3
(d) C
OVEREDFARMLANDPROTECTION.— 4
(1) F
ARMLAND CONSERVATION PLAN RE -5
QUIRED.—A person who has applied to the Secretary 6
for financial assistance for a project referred to in 7
subsection (c)(3) shall— 8
(A) develop a farmland conservation plan 9
for the project to— 10
(i) implement best practices to protect 11
future soil health and productivity, and 12
mitigate soil erosion, compaction, and 13
other effects of solar energy production 14
during construction, operation, and decom-15
missioning; and 16
(ii) remediate and restore the soil 17
health of the farmland to that of the farm-18
land before the solar energy production 19
project construction; and 20
(B) ensure sufficient funds, as determined 21
by the Secretary, are provided for the decom-22
missioning of the solar energy production sys-23
tem and the remediation and restoration of cov-24
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ered farmland to carry out the farmland con-1
servation plan described in subparagraph (A). 2
(2) O
BLIGATION AND DISBURSEMENT OF 3
FUNDS.—The Secretary may obligate financial as-4
sistance for a project described under paragraph (1), 5
but shall not disburse the financial assistance until 6
the Secretary has determined that the applicant for 7
the financial assistance has complied with paragraph 8
(1). 9
(3) F
ARMLAND CONSERVATION PLAN IMPLE -10
MENTATION.—A person referred to in paragraph (1) 11
shall carry out— 12
(A) the provisions of the plan that are de-13
scribed in paragraph (1)(A)(i), on the receipt 14
by the project of financial assistance from the 15
Secretary and for the duration of solar energy 16
production under the project; and 17
(B) the provisions of the plan that are de-18
scribed in paragraph (1)(A)(ii), on the cessation 19
of solar energy production under the project. 20
(4) C
OMPLIANCE.—Any project that fails to 21
comply with paragraph (3) with respect to a project 22
shall repay to the Secretary the full amount of the 23
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financial assistance provided by the Secretary to the 1
person for the project. 2
Æ
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