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Us Congress House Bill HB2091

Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB2091 Compare Versions

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11 I
22 119THCONGRESS
33 1
44 STSESSION H. R. 2091
55 To provide for the conservation of the Chesapeake Bay, and for other
66 purposes.
77 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
88 MARCH11, 2025
99 Mr. W
1010 ITTMAN(for himself, Mr. SCOTTof Virginia, Mrs. KIGGANSof Virginia,
1111 and Ms. E
1212 LFRETH) introduced the following bill; which was referred to
1313 the Committee on Agriculture
1414 A BILL
1515 To provide for the conservation of the Chesapeake Bay,
1616 and for other purposes.
1717 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
1818 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
1919 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
2020 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Chesapeake Bay Con-4
2121 servation Acceleration Act of 2025’’. 5
2222 SEC. 2. CHESAPEAKE BAY STATES PARTNERSHIP INITIA-6
2323 TIVE. 7
2424 Chapter 5 of subtitle D of title XII of the Food Secu-8
2525 rity Act of 1985 is amended by inserting after section 9
2626 1240M (16 U.S.C. 3839bb) the following: 10
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3030 ‘‘SEC. 1240N. CHESAPEAKE BAY STATES PARTNERSHIP INI-1
3131 TIATIVE. 2
3232 ‘‘(a) D
3333 EFINITIONS.—In this section: 3
3434 ‘‘(1) C
3535 HESAPEAKE BAY WATERSHED .—The 4
3636 term ‘Chesapeake Bay watershed’ means— 5
3737 ‘‘(A) the Chesapeake Bay; 6
3838 ‘‘(B) the portions of the States of Dela-7
3939 ware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Vir-8
4040 ginia, and West Virginia that contain the tribu-9
4141 taries, backwaters, and side channels (including 10
4242 their watersheds) that drain into the Chesa-11
4343 peake Bay; and 12
4444 ‘‘(C) the District of Columbia. 13
4545 ‘‘(2) I
4646 NITIATIVE.—The term ‘Initiative’ means 14
4747 the Chesapeake Bay States Partnership Initiative es-15
4848 tablished under subsection (b). 16
4949 ‘‘(b) E
5050 STABLISHMENT AND PURPOSE.—The Sec-17
5151 retary shall establish and carry out an initiative, to be 18
5252 known as the ‘Chesapeake Bay States Partnership Initia-19
5353 tive’, to assist producers in implementing conservation ac-20
5454 tivities on agricultural land in the Chesapeake Bay water-21
5555 shed for the purposes of— 22
5656 ‘‘(1) improving water quality and quantity; 23
5757 ‘‘(2) restoring, enhancing, and preserving soil, 24
5858 air, and related resources; and 25
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6262 ‘‘(3) increasing the resilience of agricultural 1
6363 production to withstand the impacts of climate 2
6464 change. 3
6565 ‘‘(c) C
6666 ONSERVATION ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary 4
6767 shall provide funds made available to carry out the Initia-5
6868 tive through applicable programs under this subtitle, in-6
6969 cluding by providing enrollment opportunities that are tar-7
7070 geted to the Chesapeake Bay watershed, to assist pro-8
7171 ducers in the Chesapeake Bay watershed in enhancing 9
7272 land and water resources by— 10
7373 ‘‘(1) controlling erosion and reducing sediment 11
7474 and nutrient levels in groundwater and surface 12
7575 water; and 13
7676 ‘‘(2) planning, designing, implementing, and 14
7777 evaluating habitat conservation, restoration, and en-15
7878 hancement measures in cases in which there is sig-16
7979 nificant ecological value if the applicable land is— 17
8080 ‘‘(A) retained in the current use of the 18
8181 land; or 19
8282 ‘‘(B) restored to the natural condition of 20
8383 the land. 21
8484 ‘‘(d) C
8585 ONSIDERATIONS.—In providing funds under 22
8686 the Initiative, the Secretary shall give special consider-23
8787 ation to applications— 24
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9191 ‘‘(1) submitted by producers in the Chesapeake 1
9292 Bay watershed river basins in which nutrient reduc-2
9393 tion efforts would be most effective; or 3
9494 ‘‘(2) to carry out conservation activities that re-4
9595 duce nitrogen and sediment, improve management of 5
9696 livestock and waste, or conserve wetlands in the 6
9797 Chesapeake Bay watershed. 7
9898 ‘‘(e) D
9999 UTIES OFSECRETARY.—In carrying out the 8
100100 Initiative, the Secretary shall— 9
101101 ‘‘(1) as available, use existing plans, models, 10
102102 and assessments to assist producers in implementing 11
103103 conservation activities; and 12
104104 ‘‘(2) proceed expeditiously to provide funding to 13
105105 producers to implement conservation activities that 14
106106 are consistent with State strategies for the restora-15
107107 tion of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. 16
108108 ‘‘(f) C
109109 ONSULTATION AND COORDINATION.—The Sec-17
110110 retary shall— 18
111111 ‘‘(1) in consultation with appropriate Federal 19
112112 agencies, ensure that conservation activities carried 20
113113 out under the Initiative complement Federal, State, 21
114114 and local programs, including programs that address 22
115115 water quality, in the Chesapeake Bay watershed; 23
116116 and 24
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120120 ‘‘(2) in carrying out this section, coordinate 1
121121 with the Farm Service Agency to identify needs and 2
122122 opportunities for buffer management on land subject 3
123123 to a contract under the conservation reserve pro-4
124124 gram under subchapter B of chapter 1 that may be 5
125125 expiring soon. 6
126126 ‘‘(g) T
127127 ASKFORCE ONCREDITINGCHESAPEAKEBAY 7
128128 C
129129 ONSERVATIONINVESTMENTS.— 8
130130 ‘‘(1) I
131131 N GENERAL.—The Secretary and the Ad-9
132132 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 10
133133 shall jointly establish a Federal task force, to be 11
134134 known as the ‘Task Force on Crediting Chesapeake 12
135135 Bay Conservation Investments’ (referred to in this 13
136136 subsection as the ‘Task Force’). 14
137137 ‘‘(2) A
138138 CTION PLAN.—The Task Force shall de-15
139139 velop an action plan that— 16
140140 ‘‘(A) identifies improvements to the proc-17
141141 esses of analyzing, reporting, and quantifying 18
142142 nutrient reductions from conservation activities 19
143143 in the Chesapeake Bay watershed; 20
144144 ‘‘(B) is responsive to the needs of States in 21
145145 the Chesapeake Bay watershed (including the 22
146146 District of Columbia) and the agricultural com-23
147147 munity; 24
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151151 ‘‘(C) maintains the scientific integrity of 1
152152 the decisionmaking process and accounting 2
153153 tools under the Chesapeake Bay Program (as 3
154154 defined in section 117(a) of the Federal Water 4
155155 Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1267(a))); 5
156156 and 6
157157 ‘‘(D) ensures producer privacy is protected. 7
158158 ‘‘(3) I
159159 DENTIFICATION OF OPPORTUNITIES .— 8
160160 The Task Force shall leverage findings from suc-9
161161 cessful data-sharing pilot projects to identify oppor-10
162162 tunities to integrate time-saving technologies for the 11
163163 implementation of conservation activities in the 12
164164 Chesapeake Bay watershed.’’. 13
165165 SEC. 3. CONSERVATION RESERVE ENHANCEMENT PRO-14
166166 GRAM PARTICIPATION. 15
167167 (a) C
168168 ONSERVATIONRESERVE.— 16
169169 (1) R
170170 EAUTHORIZATION.—Section 1231(a) of 17
171171 the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3831(a)) 18
172172 is amended by striking ‘‘the 2023 fiscal year’’ and 19
173173 inserting ‘‘fiscal year 2028’’. 20
174174 (2) E
175175 LIGIBLE LAND.—Section 1231(b) of the 21
176176 Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3831(b)) is 22
177177 amended— 23
178178 (A) in paragraph (6)(B)(ii), by striking 24
179179 ‘‘or’’ at the end; 25
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183183 (B) in paragraph (7)(C), by striking the 1
184184 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 2
185185 (C) by adding at the end the following: 3
186186 ‘‘(8) cropland, marginal pastureland, grass-4
187187 lands, and other rural land that will— 5
188188 ‘‘(A) have a positive impact on water qual-6
189189 ity in furtherance of the goals of the conserva-7
190190 tion reserve enhancement program under sec-8
191191 tion 1231A; and 9
192192 ‘‘(B) be devoted to a riparian buffer.’’. 10
193193 (3) C
194194 ONSERVATION RESERVE ENHANCEMENT 11
195195 PROGRAM.—Section 1231A(b) of the Food Security 12
196196 Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3831a(b)) is amended— 13
197197 (A) in paragraph (3), by adding at the end 14
198198 the following: 15
199199 ‘‘(C) U
200200 PDATES.— 16
201201 ‘‘(i) I
202202 N GENERAL.—The Secretary 17
203203 shall provide to each signatory to an agree-18
204204 ment under this subsection an option to 19
205205 update the agreement, without renegoti-20
206206 ating other provisions of the agreement, to 21
207207 include new incentives made available 22
208208 under this subchapter beginning on Janu-23
209209 ary 1, 2018, such as riparian forest buffer 24
210210 management payments. 25
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214214 ‘‘(ii) MATCHING FUNDS .—Require-1
215215 ments for matching funds described in 2
216216 paragraph (2)(B) shall not apply to an up-3
217217 date to an agreement under clause (i).’’; 4
218218 and 5
219219 (B) by adding at the end the following: 6
220220 ‘‘(4) A
221221 MENDMENTS.— 7
222222 ‘‘(A) I
223223 N GENERAL.—In the case of an 8
224224 amendment to an agreement under this sub-9
225225 section, including an addendum to such an 10
226226 agreement, the Secretary shall— 11
227227 ‘‘(i) streamline the amendment proc-12
228228 ess relating to time-sensitive national pri-13
229229 orities, including the Chesapeake Bay total 14
230230 maximum daily load; and 15
231231 ‘‘(ii) give priority to simple amend-16
232232 ments to update existing agreements in ac-17
233233 cordance with paragraph (3)(C). 18
234234 ‘‘(B) S
235235 IMPLE AMENDMENTS .—A simple 19
236236 amendment to an agreement described in sub-20
237237 paragraph (A)(ii) shall not constitute a renego-21
238238 tiation of the agreement.’’. 22
239239 (4) P
240240 AYMENTS.—Section 1234 of the Food Se-23
241241 curity Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3834) is amended— 24
242242 (A) in subsection (b)(4)— 25
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246246 (i) by striking ‘‘In addition’’ and in-1
247247 serting the following: 2
248248 ‘‘(A) I
249249 N GENERAL.—In addition’’; and 3
250250 (ii) by adding at the end the fol-4
251251 lowing: 5
252252 ‘‘(B) M
253253 INIMUM PAYMENT FOR CERTAIN 6
254254 CONTRACTS.—In the case of a contract updated 7
255255 under section 1231A(b)(3)(C), the incentive 8
256256 payment under subparagraph (A) shall be in an 9
257257 amount that is not less than 40 percent of the 10
258258 actual costs described in that subparagraph.’’; 11
259259 and 12
260260 (B) in subsection (g)(1), by striking 13
261261 ‘‘$50,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$100,000’’. 14
262262 (b) E
263263 NVIRONMENTAL QUALITYINCENTIVESPRO-15
264264 GRAM.— 16
265265 (1) C
266266 ONSERVATION INCENTIVE CONTRACTS .— 17
267267 Section 1240B(j)(2)(C) of the Food Security Act of 18
268268 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–2(j)(2)(C)) is amended— 19
269269 (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 20
270270 end; 21
271271 (B) in clause (ii), by striking the period at 22
272272 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 23
273273 (C) by adding at the end the following: 24
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277277 ‘‘(iii) consider participation in the 1
278278 conservation reserve program and the con-2
279279 servation reserve enhancement program 3
280280 under subchapter B of chapter 1, and 4
281281 practices under those programs (such as 5
282282 riparian buffers), in prioritizing grazing 6
283283 practices under the program established by 7
284284 this subchapter with respect to the effi-8
285285 cient implementation of grazing systems to 9
286286 holistically address resource concerns.’’. 10
287287 (2) E
288288 VALUATION OF APPLICATIONS .—Section 11
289289 1240C(b) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 12
290290 U.S.C. 3839aa–3(b)) is amended— 13
291291 (A) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 14
292292 the end; 15
293293 (B) in paragraph (4), by striking the pe-16
294294 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 17
295295 (C) by adding at the end the following: 18
296296 ‘‘(5) that would include grazing practices under 19
297297 the program established by this subchapter, in con-20
298298 sideration of participation in the conservation re-21
299299 serve program and the conservation reserve enhance-22
300300 ment program under subchapter B of chapter 1, and 23
301301 practices under those programs (such as riparian 24
302302 buffers), with respect to the efficient implementation 25
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306306 of grazing systems to holistically address resource 1
307307 concerns.’’. 2
308308 SEC. 4. CHESAPEAKE BAY WATERSHED TURNKEY PILOT 3
309309 PROGRAM. 4
310310 Section 1231C of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 5
311311 U.S.C. 3831c) is amended by adding at the end the fol-6
312312 lowing: 7
313313 ‘‘(c) C
314314 HESAPEAKE BAYWATERSHED TURNKEY 8
315315 P
316316 ILOTPROGRAM.— 9
317317 ‘‘(1) D
318318 EFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 10
319319 ‘‘(A) C
320320 HESAPEAKE BAY WATERSHED .— 11
321321 The term ‘Chesapeake Bay watershed’ has the 12
322322 meaning given the term in section 1240N(a). 13
323323 ‘‘(B) CREP
324324 DEFINITIONS.—The terms 14
325325 ‘CREP’, ‘eligible land’, and ‘management’ have 15
326326 the meanings given those terms in section 16
327327 1231A(a). 17
328328 ‘‘(C) E
329329 LIGIBLE PRACTICE.—The term ‘eli-18
330330 gible practice’ means a forested riparian buffer 19
331331 practice under a CREP and any associated ac-20
332332 tivities, including— 21
333333 ‘‘(i) a stream crossing; 22
334334 ‘‘(ii) fencing and alternate water sys-23
335335 tems; 24
336336 ‘‘(iii) herbicide applications; and 25
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340340 ‘‘(iv) any other activity that is appro-1
341341 priate to establish the practice. 2
342342 ‘‘(D) P
343343 ILOT PROGRAM.—The term ‘pilot 3
344344 program’ means the pilot program established 4
345345 under paragraph (2). 5
346346 ‘‘(E) T
347347 ECHNICAL SERVICE PROVIDER .— 6
348348 The term ‘technical service provider’ means a 7
349349 third-party provider with which the Secretary 8
350350 enters into an agreement under paragraph 9
351351 (5)(A). 10
352352 ‘‘(2) E
353353 STABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall es-11
354354 tablish a pilot program under which the Secretary 12
355355 shall provide, for voluntary owners and operators, 13
356356 establishment and management of eligible practices 14
357357 on eligible land located in the Chesapeake Bay wa-15
358358 tershed that is enrolled through a CREP. 16
359359 ‘‘(3) D
360360 UTIES OF SECRETARY .—With respect to 17
361361 eligible land enrolled through the pilot program, the 18
362362 Secretary— 19
363363 ‘‘(A) may provide, for the owner or oper-20
364364 ator, establishment and management of an eli-21
365365 gible practice on the eligible land using a tech-22
366366 nical service provider pursuant to an agreement 23
367367 under paragraph (5); and 24
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371371 ‘‘(B) shall not require the owner or oper-1
372372 ator— 2
373373 ‘‘(i) to pay any costs of the establish-3
374374 ment or management of an eligible prac-4
375375 tice, including any compensation provided 5
376376 under paragraph (5)(C); or 6
377377 ‘‘(ii) to submit to the Secretary any 7
378378 additional paperwork with respect to the 8
379379 pilot program. 9
380380 ‘‘(4) D
381381 UTIES OF OWNERS AND OPERATORS .— 10
382382 Each owner or operator of eligible land enrolled 11
383383 through the pilot program— 12
384384 ‘‘(A) shall provide to the Secretary and 13
385385 any technical service providers, as applicable, 14
386386 access to the eligible land for purposes of the 15
387387 establishment or management of an eligible 16
388388 practice under the pilot program; and 17
389389 ‘‘(B) may not receive any cost-share pay-18
390390 ment, practice incentive payment, or manage-19
391391 ment payment under this subchapter with re-20
392392 spect to an eligible practice under the pilot pro-21
393393 gram. 22
394394 ‘‘(5) A
395395 GREEMENTS WITH TECHNICAL SERVICE 23
396396 PROVIDERS.— 24
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400400 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 1
401401 enter into an agreement under section 1242 2
402402 with 1 or more third-party providers certified 3
403403 under that section, including a third-party pro-4
404404 vider certified through a streamlined certifi-5
405405 cation process under subsection (e)(5) of that 6
406406 section, that provide technical assistance under 7
407407 this title in the Chesapeake Bay watershed to 8
408408 conduct the establishment and management of 9
409409 an eligible practice on eligible land under the 10
410410 pilot program. 11
411411 ‘‘(B) A
412412 CTIVITIES.—In addition to any ac-12
413413 tivity that a technical service provider may con-13
414414 duct pursuant to section 1242 relating to the 14
415415 establishment of an eligible practice, a technical 15
416416 service provider may carry out such activities as 16
417417 are necessary to conduct the establishment and 17
418418 management of an eligible practice under the 18
419419 pilot program. 19
420420 ‘‘(C) C
421421 OMPENSATION.—Under an agree-20
422422 ment entered into under subparagraph (A), the 21
423423 Secretary shall provide to a technical service 22
424424 provider reasonable compensation for services 23
425425 provided under the agreement, including admin-24
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429429 istrative assistance, technical assistance, design 1
430430 assistance, and installation costs. 2
431431 ‘‘(6) R
432432 EPORT TO CONGRESS .—Not later than 1 3
433433 year after the date of enactment of this subsection, 4
434434 the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Ag-5
435435 riculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate and 6
436436 the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Rep-7
437437 resentatives a report describing the status of, and 8
438438 any activities carried out under, the pilot program.’’. 9
439439 SEC. 5. WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT. 10
440440 (a) G
441441 RANTS ANDFELLOWSHIPS FOR FOOD ANDAG-11
442442 RICULTURALSCIENCESEDUCATION.— 12
443443 (1) I
444444 N GENERAL.—Section 1417 of the Na-13
445445 tional Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teach-14
446446 ing Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3152) is amend-15
447447 ed— 16
448448 (A) in subsection (b)— 17
449449 (i) in the matter preceding paragraph 18
450450 (1), by inserting ‘‘, junior or community 19
451451 colleges, and postsecondary vocational in-20
452452 stitutions’’ after ‘‘other colleges and uni-21
453453 versities’’; and 22
454454 (ii) in paragraph (3), by striking 23
455455 ‘‘food and agricultural sciences teaching 24
456456 programs, or teaching programs empha-25
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460460 sizing’’ and inserting ‘‘teaching programs, 1
461461 including paid work-based learning, for 2
462462 food and agricultural sciences or’’; 3
463463 (B) in subsection (c)— 4
464464 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking 5
465465 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 6
466466 (ii) in paragraph (2), by striking the 7
467467 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 8
468468 and 9
469469 (iii) by adding at the end the fol-10
470470 lowing: 11
471471 ‘‘(3) applications for teaching enhancement 12
472472 projects, including paid work-based learning, that 13
473473 address a need for additional trained professionals in 14
474474 food and agricultural sciences or rural economic de-15
475475 velopment, community development, or business de-16
476476 velopment.’’; 17
477477 (C) in subsection (j)— 18
478478 (i) by striking paragraph (1); and 19
479479 (ii) by redesignating paragraphs (2) 20
480480 and (3) as paragraphs (1) and (2), respec-21
481481 tively; 22
482482 (D) in subsection (l), by striking ‘‘sub-23
483483 section (j)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (k)’’; 24
484484 (E) in subsection (m)— 25
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488488 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking 1
489489 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 2
490490 (ii) in paragraph (2), by striking the 3
491491 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 4
492492 and 5
493493 (iii) by adding at the end the fol-6
494494 lowing: 7
495495 ‘‘(3) $60,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 8
496496 through 2031.’’; 9
497497 (F) by striking ‘‘subsection (b)’’ each place 10
498498 it appears and inserting ‘‘subsection (c)’’; 11
499499 (G) by redesignating subsections (a) 12
500500 through (m) as subsections (b) through (n), re-13
501501 spectively; and 14
502502 (H) by inserting before subsection (b) (as 15
503503 so redesignated) the following: 16
504504 ‘‘(a) D
505505 EFINITIONS.—In this section: 17
506506 ‘‘(1) I
507507 NSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION .— 18
508508 The term ‘institution of higher education’ has the 19
509509 meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher 20
510510 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 21
511511 ‘‘(2) J
512512 UNIOR OR COMMUNITY COLLEGE .—The 22
513513 term ‘junior or community college’ has the meaning 23
514514 given the term in section 312 of the Higher Edu-24
515515 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1058). 25
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518518 •HR 2091 IH
519519 ‘‘(3) POSTSECONDARY VOCATIONAL INSTITU -1
520520 TION.—The term ‘postsecondary vocational institu-2
521521 tion’ has the meaning given the term in section 3
522522 102(c) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 4
523523 U.S.C. 1002(c)). 5
524524 ‘‘(4) S
525525 ECONDARY SCHOOL .—The term ‘sec-6
526526 ondary school’ has the meaning given the term in 7
527527 section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu-8
528528 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 9
529529 ‘‘(5) W
530530 ORK-BASED LEARNING .—The term 10
531531 ‘work-based learning’ has the meaning given the 11
532532 term in section 3 of the Carl D. Perkins Career and 12
533533 Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 13
534534 2302).’’. 14
535535 (2) C
536536 ONFORMING AMENDMENTS .— 15
537537 (A) Section 708 of the Agriculture, Rural 16
538538 Development, Food and Drug Administration, 17
539539 and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1992 18
540540 (7 U.S.C. 2209b), is amended by striking ‘‘sec-19
541541 tion 1417(b)(6) of the National Agricultural 20
542542 Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act 21
543543 of 1977, as amended (7 U.S.C. 3152(b)(6))’’ 22
544544 and inserting ‘‘subsection (c)(6) of section 1417 23
545545 of the National Agricultural Research, Exten-24
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548548 •HR 2091 IH
549549 sion, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 1
550550 U.S.C. 3152)’’. 2
551551 (B) Section 251(f)(1) of the Department 3
552552 of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 4
553553 U.S.C. 6971(f)(1)) is amended— 5
554554 (i) in subparagraph (C)(v), by striking 6
555555 ‘‘section 1417(b) of the National Agricul-7
556556 tural Research, Extension, and Teaching 8
557557 Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3152(b))’’ 9
558558 and inserting ‘‘subsection (c) of section 10
559559 1417 of the National Agricultural Re-11
560560 search, Extension, and Teaching Policy 12
561561 Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3152)’’; and 13
562562 (ii) in subparagraph (D)(v), by strik-14
563563 ing ‘‘section 1417(j) of the National Agri-15
564564 cultural Research, Extension, and Teach-16
565565 ing Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3152(j))’’ 17
566566 and inserting ‘‘subsection (k) of section 18
567567 1417 of the National Agricultural Re-19
568568 search, Extension, and Teaching Policy 20
569569 Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3152)’’. 21
570570 (b) E
571571 XPERIENCED SERVICESPROGRAM.—Section 22
572572 1252(a)(2) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 23
573573 3851(a)(2)) is amended— 24
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576576 •HR 2091 IH
577577 (1) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 1
578578 the end; 2
579579 (2) in subparagraph (E), by striking the period 3
580580 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 4
581581 (3) by adding at the end the following: 5
582582 ‘‘(F) assisting cooperative initiatives under 6
583583 subsection (c)(3) of section 1417 of the Na-7
584584 tional Agricultural Research, Extension, and 8
585585 Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3152) 9
586586 to improve higher education teaching programs, 10
587587 including paid work-based learning, at— 11
588588 ‘‘(i) land-grant colleges and univer-12
589589 sities (including the University of the Dis-13
590590 trict of Columbia); 14
591591 ‘‘(ii) colleges and universities having 15
592592 significant minority enrollments and a de-16
593593 monstrable capacity to carry out the teach-17
594594 ing of food and agricultural sciences; and 18
595595 ‘‘(iii) other colleges and universities, 19
596596 junior or community colleges (as defined in 20
597597 section 312 of the Higher Education Act 21
598598 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1058)), and postsec-22
599599 ondary vocational institutions (as defined 23
600600 in section 102(c) of the Higher Education 24
601601 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002(c))) having a 25
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604604 •HR 2091 IH
605605 demonstrable capacity to carry out the 1
606606 teaching of food and agricultural 2
607607 sciences.’’. 3
608608 (c) C
609609 OMPETITIVE, SPECIAL, ANDFACILITIESRE-4
610610 SEARCHGRANTS.—Subsection (b) of the Competitive, 5
611611 Special, and Facilities Research Grant Act (7 U.S.C. 6
612612 3157(b)) is amended— 7
613613 (1) in paragraph (6)(A), by striking ‘‘teaching’’ 8
614614 and inserting ‘‘teaching, including paid work-based 9
615615 learning (as defined in section 3 of the Carl D. Per-10
616616 kins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 11
617617 (20 U.S.C. 2302))’’; and 12
618618 (2) in paragraph (7)(B), by inserting ‘‘, junior 13
619619 or community colleges (as defined in section 312 of 14
620620 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 15
621621 1058)), and postsecondary vocational institutions (as 16
622622 defined in section 102(c) of the Higher Education 17
623623 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002(c)))’’ after ‘‘colleges 18
624624 and universities’’. 19
625625 SEC. 6. NRCS DIRECT HIRE AUTHORITY. 20
626626 Section 1242 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 21
627627 U.S.C. 3842) is amended by adding at the end the fol-22
628628 lowing: 23
629629 ‘‘(j) NRCS D
630630 IRECTHIREAUTHORITY.— 24
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633633 •HR 2091 IH
634634 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may ap-1
635635 point, without regard to the provisions of subchapter 2
636636 I of chapter 33 of title 5, United States Code (other 3
637637 than sections 3303 and 3328 of that title), qualified 4
638638 candidates, as described in paragraph (2), directly to 5
639639 positions within the Natural Resources Conservation 6
640640 Service that provide technical assistance under con-7
641641 servation programs administered by the Natural Re-8
642642 sources Conservation Service. 9
643643 ‘‘(2) Q
644644 UALIFICATIONS.—Paragraph (1) applies 10
645645 to any candidate who— 11
646646 ‘‘(A) is qualified to provide the technical 12
647647 assistance described in paragraph (1), as deter-13
648648 mined by the Secretary; and 14
649649 ‘‘(B) meets qualification standards estab-15
650650 lished by the Office of Personnel Manage-16
651651 ment.’’. 17
652652 SEC. 7. PRIMARY REGULATORY OVERSIGHT FOR DOMES-18
653653 TIC, WILD-CAUGHT, INVASIVE CATFISH. 19
654654 (a) E
655655 XEMPTIONFROMOVERSIGHT.— 20
656656 (1) F
657657 OOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE .— 21
658658 Section 1(w)(2) of the Federal Meat Inspection Act 22
659659 (21 U.S.C. 601(w)(2)) is amended by inserting ‘‘, 23
660660 except for domestic, wild-caught blue catfish 24
661661 (Ictalurus furcatus) and flathead catfish (Pylodictis 25
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664664 •HR 2091 IH
665665 olivaris) invasive to the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem’’ 1
666666 before the semicolon. 2
667667 (2) USDA
668668 GRADING PROGRAM .—Section 3
669669 203(n)(1) of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 4
670670 (7 U.S.C. 1622(n)(1)) is amended by inserting ‘‘, ex-5
671671 cept for domestic, wild-caught blue catfish (Ictalurus 6
672672 furcatus) and flathead catfish (Pylodictis olivaris) 7
673673 invasive to the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem’’ before 8
674674 the semicolon. 9
675675 (b) I
676676 NTERAGENCY COORDINATION.—Not later than 10
677677 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec-11
678678 retary of Agriculture (referred to in this section as the 12
679679 ‘‘Secretary’’) shall execute a memorandum of under-13
680680 standing with the Commissioner of Food and Drugs (re-14
681681 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Commissioner’’) for the 15
682682 purpose of transferring primary regulatory oversight of 16
683683 the domestic and import inspection of domestic, wild- 17
684684 caught blue catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) and flathead cat-18
685685 fish (Pylodictis olivaris) invasive to the Chesapeake Bay 19
686686 ecosystem from the Secretary to the Commissioner, pursu-20
687687 ant to the authorities of the Commissioner under the Fed-21
688688 eral Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 301 et 22
689689 seq.), the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (15 U.S.C. 23
690690 1451 et seq.), and the Public Health Service Act (42 24
691691 U.S.C. 201 et seq.). 25
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694694 •HR 2091 IH
695695 (c) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after 1
696696 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in con-2
697697 sultation with the Commissioner, shall issue final regula-3
698698 tions to carry out this section and the amendments made 4
699699 by this section in a manner that ensures that there is no 5
700700 duplication in inspection activities relating to domestic, 6
701701 wild-caught blue catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) and flathead 7
702702 catfish (Pylodictis olivaris) invasive to the Chesapeake 8
703703 Bay ecosystem. 9
704704 Æ
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