| 1 | 1 | | I |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 2536 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To establish the New Producer Economic Security Program within the Farm |
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| 6 | 6 | | Service Agency Office of Outreach and Education. |
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| 7 | 7 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 8 | 8 | | APRIL1, 2025 |
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| 9 | 9 | | Ms. B |
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| 10 | 10 | | UDZINSKI(for herself, Mr. NUNNof Iowa, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. DAVIS |
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| 11 | 11 | | of North Carolina, Mr. S |
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| 12 | 12 | | ORENSEN, Ms. TOKUDA, and Mr. VASQUEZ) in- |
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| 13 | 13 | | troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agri- |
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| 14 | 14 | | culture |
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| 15 | 15 | | A BILL |
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| 16 | 16 | | To establish the New Producer Economic Security Program |
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| 17 | 17 | | within the Farm Service Agency Office of Outreach and |
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| 18 | 18 | | Education. |
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| 19 | 19 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 20 | 20 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 21 | 21 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 22 | 22 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘New Producer Eco-4 |
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| 23 | 23 | | nomic Security Act’’. 5 |
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| 24 | 24 | | SEC. 2. NEW PRODUCER ECONOMIC SECURITY PROGRAM. 6 |
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| 25 | 25 | | (a) D |
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| 26 | 26 | | EFINITIONS.—In this section: 7 |
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| 27 | 27 | | (1) A |
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| 28 | 28 | | UTHORIZED LEGAL ENTITY .—The term 8 |
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| 29 | 29 | | ‘‘authorized legal entity’’ means any corporation, 9 |
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| 32 | 32 | | •HR 2536 IH |
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| 33 | 33 | | business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited li-1 |
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| 34 | 34 | | ability company, association, joint venture, public 2 |
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| 35 | 35 | | corporation, cooperative, pension or investment fund, 3 |
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| 36 | 36 | | or any other legal or commercial entity organized or 4 |
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| 37 | 37 | | created under the laws of any State that meets each 5 |
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| 38 | 38 | | of the following requirements: 6 |
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| 39 | 39 | | (A) The entity is not a subsidiary of, or 7 |
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| 40 | 40 | | owned in any part by, a multilayered subsidiary 8 |
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| 41 | 41 | | entity. 9 |
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| 42 | 42 | | (B) The shareholders, partners, members, 10 |
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| 43 | 43 | | or beneficial owners of the entity do not exceed 11 |
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| 44 | 44 | | 25 individuals. 12 |
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| 45 | 45 | | (C) The shareholders, partners, members, 13 |
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| 46 | 46 | | or beneficial owners of the entity are all natural 14 |
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| 47 | 47 | | persons who— 15 |
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| 48 | 48 | | (i) regularly and frequently make, or 16 |
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| 49 | 49 | | take an important part in making, man-17 |
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| 50 | 50 | | agement decisions substantially contrib-18 |
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| 51 | 51 | | uting to or affecting the operation of a 19 |
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| 52 | 52 | | farm or forest; or 20 |
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| 53 | 53 | | (ii) perform physical work that signifi-21 |
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| 54 | 54 | | cantly contributes to cultivation, steward-22 |
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| 55 | 55 | | ship, crop or livestock production, or food 23 |
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| 56 | 56 | | production. 24 |
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| 59 | 59 | | •HR 2536 IH |
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| 60 | 60 | | (2) COVERED PROJECT .—The term ‘‘covered 1 |
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| 61 | 61 | | project’’ means a project described in subsection (e). 2 |
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| 62 | 62 | | (3) E |
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| 63 | 63 | | LIGIBLE ENTITY.— 3 |
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| 64 | 64 | | (A) I |
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| 65 | 65 | | N GENERAL.—The term ‘‘eligible enti-4 |
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| 66 | 66 | | ty’’ means an entity that— 5 |
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| 67 | 67 | | (i) has demonstrated experience in 6 |
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| 68 | 68 | | serving qualified beneficiaries; and 7 |
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| 69 | 69 | | (ii) is— 8 |
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| 70 | 70 | | (I) a State, local, or territorial 9 |
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| 71 | 71 | | government; 10 |
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| 72 | 72 | | (II) an Indian Tribe or Tribal or-11 |
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| 73 | 73 | | ganization (as those terms are defined 12 |
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| 74 | 74 | | in section 4 of the Indian Self-Deter-13 |
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| 75 | 75 | | mination and Education Assistance 14 |
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| 76 | 76 | | Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)); 15 |
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| 77 | 77 | | (III) a Native community devel-16 |
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| 78 | 78 | | opment financial institution certified 17 |
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| 79 | 79 | | by the Secretary of the Treasury; 18 |
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| 80 | 80 | | (IV) a community development 19 |
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| 81 | 81 | | financial institution (as defined in sec-20 |
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| 82 | 82 | | tion 103 of the Community Develop-21 |
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| 83 | 83 | | ment Banking and Financial Institu-22 |
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| 84 | 84 | | tions Act of 1994 (12 U.S.C. 4702)) 23 |
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| 85 | 85 | | certified by the Secretary of the 24 |
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| 86 | 86 | | Treasury, acting through the Director 25 |
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| 89 | 89 | | •HR 2536 IH |
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| 90 | 90 | | of the Community Development Fi-1 |
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| 91 | 91 | | nancial Institutions Fund established 2 |
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| 92 | 92 | | under section 104(a) of that Act (12 3 |
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| 93 | 93 | | U.S.C. 4703(a)); 4 |
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| 94 | 94 | | (V) an organization described in 5 |
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| 95 | 95 | | paragraph (2) or (3) of section 501(c) 6 |
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| 96 | 96 | | of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 7 |
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| 97 | 97 | | and exempt from tax under section 8 |
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| 98 | 98 | | 501(a) of such Code; 9 |
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| 99 | 99 | | (VI) a foundation; 10 |
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| 100 | 100 | | (VII) a cooperative entity; 11 |
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| 101 | 101 | | (VIII) an institution of higher 12 |
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| 102 | 102 | | education (as defined in section 101 13 |
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| 103 | 103 | | of the Higher Education Act of 1965 14 |
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| 104 | 104 | | (20 U.S.C. 1001)); 15 |
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| 105 | 105 | | (IX) a financial institution de-16 |
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| 106 | 106 | | scribed in section 1.7(b)(1)(B) of the 17 |
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| 107 | 107 | | Farm Credit Act of 1971 (12 U.S.C. 18 |
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| 108 | 108 | | 2015(b)(1)(B)); and 19 |
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| 109 | 109 | | (X) any other appropriate part-20 |
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| 110 | 110 | | ner, as determined by the Secretary. 21 |
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| 111 | 111 | | (B) E |
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| 112 | 112 | | XCLUSION.—The term ‘‘eligible enti-22 |
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| 113 | 113 | | ty’’ does not include a corporation that is for-23 |
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| 114 | 114 | | eign-based or foreign-owned. 24 |
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| 115 | 115 | | (4) E |
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| 116 | 116 | | LIGIBLE LAND.— 25 |
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| 119 | 119 | | •HR 2536 IH |
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| 120 | 120 | | (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘eligible 1 |
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| 121 | 121 | | land’’ means— 2 |
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| 122 | 122 | | (i) agricultural land; 3 |
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| 123 | 123 | | (ii) private land; 4 |
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| 124 | 124 | | (iii) urban land; 5 |
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| 125 | 125 | | (iv) public land, including Federal, 6 |
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| 126 | 126 | | State, and municipally owned or managed 7 |
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| 127 | 127 | | land; 8 |
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| 128 | 128 | | (v) lands held in common that are 9 |
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| 129 | 129 | | controlled and managed by groups of indi-10 |
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| 130 | 130 | | viduals; 11 |
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| 131 | 131 | | (vi) lands held in trust; 12 |
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| 132 | 132 | | (vii) multiple parcels of land described 13 |
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| 133 | 133 | | in any of clauses (i) through (vi) that are 14 |
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| 134 | 134 | | noncontiguous; and 15 |
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| 135 | 135 | | (viii) public or private shoreline or 16 |
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| 136 | 136 | | intertidal zone areas, which may be wholly 17 |
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| 137 | 137 | | or partially underwater. 18 |
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| 138 | 138 | | (B) E |
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| 139 | 139 | | XCLUSION.—The term ‘‘eligible land’’ 19 |
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| 140 | 140 | | does not include a natural area (as defined in 20 |
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| 141 | 141 | | section 650.23(a) of title 7, Code of Federal 21 |
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| 142 | 142 | | Regulations (or successor regulations)). 22 |
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| 143 | 143 | | (5) P |
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| 144 | 144 | | ROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 23 |
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| 145 | 145 | | the New Producer Economic Security Program es-24 |
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| 146 | 146 | | tablished under subsection (b). 25 |
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| 149 | 149 | | •HR 2536 IH |
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| 150 | 150 | | (6) QUALIFIED BENEFICIARY.— 1 |
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| 151 | 151 | | (A) I |
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| 152 | 152 | | N GENERAL.—The term ‘‘qualified 2 |
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| 153 | 153 | | beneficiary’’ means a farmer, a rancher, or a 3 |
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| 154 | 154 | | forest owner who— 4 |
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| 155 | 155 | | (i) is a natural person; 5 |
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| 156 | 156 | | (ii) is— 6 |
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| 157 | 157 | | (I) a shareholder in an author-7 |
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| 158 | 158 | | ized legal entity; 8 |
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| 159 | 159 | | (II) an officer, director, or em-9 |
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| 160 | 160 | | ployee of an authorized legal entity; 10 |
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| 161 | 161 | | (III) a member or manager of an 11 |
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| 162 | 162 | | authorized legal entity; 12 |
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| 163 | 163 | | (IV) a partner in an authorized 13 |
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| 164 | 164 | | legal entity; 14 |
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| 165 | 165 | | (V) a beneficiary or trustee of an 15 |
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| 166 | 166 | | authorized legal entity; or 16 |
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| 167 | 167 | | (VI) any other individual who— 17 |
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| 168 | 168 | | (aa) regularly and frequently 18 |
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| 169 | 169 | | makes, or takes an important 19 |
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| 170 | 170 | | part in making, management de-20 |
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| 171 | 171 | | cisions substantially contributing 21 |
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| 172 | 172 | | to or affecting the operation of a 22 |
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| 173 | 173 | | farm or forest; or 23 |
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| 174 | 174 | | (bb) performs physical work 24 |
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| 175 | 175 | | that significantly contributes to 25 |
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| 178 | 178 | | •HR 2536 IH |
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| 179 | 179 | | cultivation, stewardship, crop or 1 |
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| 180 | 180 | | livestock production, or food pro-2 |
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| 181 | 181 | | duction; and 3 |
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| 182 | 182 | | (iii)(I) has never operated, or has not 4 |
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| 183 | 183 | | operated for more than 10 consecutive 5 |
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| 184 | 184 | | years, a farm or a ranch; 6 |
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| 185 | 185 | | (II) operates only on rented or leased 7 |
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| 186 | 186 | | land; 8 |
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| 187 | 187 | | (III) has an income that is at or 9 |
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| 188 | 188 | | below 200 percent of the national poverty 10 |
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| 189 | 189 | | level or half of the median household in-11 |
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| 190 | 190 | | come of the county in which the natural 12 |
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| 191 | 191 | | person is located; or 13 |
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| 192 | 192 | | (IV) is economically disadvantaged, as 14 |
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| 193 | 193 | | determined by the Secretary. 15 |
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| 194 | 194 | | (B) E |
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| 195 | 195 | | XCLUSION.—The term ‘‘qualified 16 |
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| 196 | 196 | | beneficiary’’ does not include a natural person 17 |
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| 197 | 197 | | who solely provides capital to an authorized 18 |
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| 198 | 198 | | legal entity that is not a qualified beneficiary 19 |
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| 199 | 199 | | described in subparagraph (A). 20 |
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| 200 | 200 | | (7) S |
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| 201 | 201 | | ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 21 |
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| 202 | 202 | | the Secretary of Agriculture. 22 |
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| 203 | 203 | | (b) E |
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| 204 | 204 | | STABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 23 |
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| 205 | 205 | | within the Farm Service Agency a competitive program, 24 |
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| 206 | 206 | | to be known as the ‘‘New Producer Economic Security 25 |
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| 209 | 209 | | •HR 2536 IH |
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| 210 | 210 | | Program’’, to make grants to, enter into cooperative 1 |
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| 211 | 211 | | agreements with, or provide other capital support to eligi-2 |
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| 212 | 212 | | ble entities to carry out covered projects in accordance 3 |
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| 213 | 213 | | with subsection (e). 4 |
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| 214 | 214 | | (c) P |
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| 215 | 215 | | URPOSE.—The purposes of the program are— 5 |
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| 216 | 216 | | (1) to strengthen the food systems security of 6 |
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| 217 | 217 | | the United States by efficiently investing in commu-7 |
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| 218 | 218 | | nity-led solutions to increasing access to land, cap-8 |
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| 219 | 219 | | ital, and markets for qualified beneficiaries; and 9 |
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| 220 | 220 | | (2) to support projects that— 10 |
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| 221 | 221 | | (A) support farm establishment and long- 11 |
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| 222 | 222 | | term farm business viability; 12 |
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| 223 | 223 | | (B) support the financial viability of quali-13 |
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| 224 | 224 | | fied beneficiaries; 14 |
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| 225 | 225 | | (C) support the physical and mental health 15 |
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| 226 | 226 | | of qualified beneficiaries; 16 |
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| 227 | 227 | | (D) increase land access; 17 |
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| 228 | 228 | | (E) prevent land loss; 18 |
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| 229 | 229 | | (F) establish innovative ways to make land 19 |
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| 230 | 230 | | accessible to qualified beneficiaries; 20 |
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| 231 | 231 | | (G) transition farmland from existing land-21 |
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| 232 | 232 | | owners to qualified beneficiaries; and 22 |
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| 233 | 233 | | (H) provide appropriate technical assist-23 |
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| 234 | 234 | | ance related to permissible activities described 24 |
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| 235 | 235 | | in subsection (e)(2). 25 |
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| 238 | 238 | | •HR 2536 IH |
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| 239 | 239 | | (d) SELECTION.— 1 |
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| 240 | 240 | | (1) A |
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| 241 | 241 | | PPLICATION REQUIREMENTS .—To be eligi-2 |
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| 242 | 242 | | ble to receive assistance under the program, an eligi-3 |
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| 243 | 243 | | ble entity shall submit to the Secretary an applica-4 |
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| 244 | 244 | | tion at such time, in such manner, and containing 5 |
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| 245 | 245 | | such information as the Secretary may require, in-6 |
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| 246 | 246 | | cluding— 7 |
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| 247 | 247 | | (A) information demonstrating that the 8 |
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| 248 | 248 | | covered project the eligible entity seeks to carry 9 |
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| 249 | 249 | | out is designed— 10 |
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| 250 | 250 | | (i) to serve qualified beneficiaries; and 11 |
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| 251 | 251 | | (ii) to meet the purposes of the pro-12 |
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| 252 | 252 | | gram described in subsection (c); 13 |
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| 253 | 253 | | (B) a description of how project activities 14 |
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| 254 | 254 | | will support the long-term financial viability of 15 |
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| 255 | 255 | | qualified beneficiaries; 16 |
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| 256 | 256 | | (C) a plan for notification and consultation 17 |
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| 257 | 257 | | with local Tribal governments for the future 18 |
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| 258 | 258 | | sale of land, if applicable; 19 |
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| 259 | 259 | | (D) an analysis of anticipated benefits to 20 |
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| 260 | 260 | | the community and the agricultural economy 21 |
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| 261 | 261 | | within the project area; and 22 |
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| 262 | 262 | | (E) a plan for evaluation, data manage-23 |
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| 263 | 263 | | ment, communication, and reporting of project 24 |
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| 264 | 264 | | findings and results. 25 |
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| 267 | 267 | | •HR 2536 IH |
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| 268 | 268 | | (2) EVALUATION AND SELECTION OF APPLICA -1 |
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| 269 | 269 | | TIONS.— 2 |
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| 270 | 270 | | (A) E |
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| 271 | 271 | | VALUATION PROCESS .—The Sec-3 |
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| 272 | 272 | | retary shall develop a process for evaluating 4 |
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| 273 | 273 | | and selecting applications submitted under 5 |
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| 274 | 274 | | paragraph (1) in collaboration with the stake-6 |
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| 275 | 275 | | holder committee established under subpara-7 |
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| 276 | 276 | | graph (B). 8 |
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| 277 | 277 | | (B) S |
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| 278 | 278 | | TAKEHOLDER COMMITTEE .— 9 |
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| 279 | 279 | | (i) I |
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| 280 | 280 | | N GENERAL.—Not later than 180 10 |
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| 281 | 281 | | days after the date of enactment of this 11 |
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| 282 | 282 | | Act, the Secretary shall establish and con-12 |
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| 283 | 283 | | vene a stakeholder committee to provide 13 |
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| 284 | 284 | | input on the distribution of funds and the 14 |
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| 285 | 285 | | evaluation and selection of applications 15 |
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| 286 | 286 | | submitted under paragraph (1). 16 |
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| 287 | 287 | | (ii) C |
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| 288 | 288 | | ONSIDERATION.—The Secretary 17 |
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| 289 | 289 | | shall ensure that the stakeholder com-18 |
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| 290 | 290 | | mittee established under clause (i) includes 19 |
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| 291 | 291 | | perspectives reflecting— 20 |
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| 292 | 292 | | (I) the complexity of the rural 21 |
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| 293 | 293 | | and urban agricultural landscapes of 22 |
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| 294 | 294 | | the United States; and 23 |
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| 298 | 298 | | (II) the wide variety of agricul-1 |
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| 299 | 299 | | tural production models employed by 2 |
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| 300 | 300 | | qualified beneficiaries. 3 |
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| 301 | 301 | | (C) P |
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| 302 | 302 | | RIORITY.—In selecting applications 4 |
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| 303 | 303 | | submitted under paragraph (1), the Secretary 5 |
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| 304 | 304 | | shall give priority to applications for covered 6 |
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| 305 | 305 | | projects that— 7 |
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| 306 | 306 | | (i) provide direct financial assistance 8 |
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| 307 | 307 | | to qualified beneficiaries; 9 |
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| 308 | 308 | | (ii) involve a substantial and effective 10 |
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| 309 | 309 | | collaborative network or partnership of 11 |
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| 310 | 310 | | public or private entities; 12 |
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| 311 | 311 | | (iii) include a right of first refusal for 13 |
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| 312 | 312 | | Tribal citizens or governments when land 14 |
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| 313 | 313 | | becomes available on or near Tribal com-15 |
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| 314 | 314 | | munities; 16 |
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| 315 | 315 | | (iv) involve mechanisms, such as a 17 |
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| 316 | 316 | | deed restriction or conservation easement, 18 |
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| 317 | 317 | | that restrict the resale value of eligible 19 |
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| 318 | 318 | | land to protect the land for agricultural 20 |
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| 319 | 319 | | use; 21 |
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| 320 | 320 | | (v) support the voluntary transition of 22 |
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| 321 | 321 | | agricultural land from existing producers 23 |
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| 322 | 322 | | to qualified beneficiaries; 24 |
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| 325 | 325 | | •HR 2536 IH |
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| 326 | 326 | | (vi) provide technical assistance, in-1 |
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| 327 | 327 | | cluding translation and interpretation serv-2 |
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| 328 | 328 | | ices; 3 |
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| 329 | 329 | | (vii) include activities under sub-4 |
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| 330 | 330 | | section (e) designed to support farm-5 |
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| 331 | 331 | | workers; or 6 |
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| 332 | 332 | | (viii) support long-term adoption of 7 |
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| 333 | 333 | | conservation practices that are consistent 8 |
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| 334 | 334 | | with conservation practice standards of the 9 |
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| 335 | 335 | | Natural Resources Conservation Service 10 |
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| 336 | 336 | | and designed to achieve conservation out-11 |
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| 337 | 337 | | comes. 12 |
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| 338 | 338 | | (e) C |
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| 339 | 339 | | OVEREDPROJECTS.— 13 |
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| 340 | 340 | | (1) R |
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| 341 | 341 | | EQUIRED USE OF FUNDS .—An eligible en-14 |
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| 342 | 342 | | tity that receives assistance under the program shall 15 |
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| 343 | 343 | | provide direct assistance to qualified beneficiaries in 16 |
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| 344 | 344 | | order to facilitate access to land, capital, and mar-17 |
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| 345 | 345 | | kets, which may include payments— 18 |
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| 346 | 346 | | (A) to acquire real property (including air 19 |
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| 347 | 347 | | rights, water rights, and other interests there-20 |
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| 348 | 348 | | in), including closing costs; 21 |
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| 349 | 349 | | (B) to subsidize interest rates and mort-22 |
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| 350 | 350 | | gage principal amounts for qualified bene-23 |
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| 351 | 351 | | ficiaries; 24 |
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| 353 | 353 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 13 |
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| 354 | 354 | | •HR 2536 IH |
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| 355 | 355 | | (C) to provide down payment assistance to 1 |
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| 356 | 356 | | decrease farm mortgages; 2 |
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| 357 | 357 | | (D) to secure clear title on heirs’ property; 3 |
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| 358 | 358 | | (E) to conduct surveys and assessments of 4 |
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| 359 | 359 | | eligible land; 5 |
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| 360 | 360 | | (F) to improve or remediate land, water, 6 |
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| 361 | 361 | | and soil; 7 |
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| 362 | 362 | | (G) to construct or repair infrastructure; 8 |
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| 363 | 363 | | (H) to support land use planning; 9 |
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| 364 | 364 | | (I) to acquire succession planning assist-10 |
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| 365 | 365 | | ance; 11 |
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| 366 | 366 | | (J) to carry out Tribal consultation; 12 |
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| 367 | 367 | | (K) to support acquisition of a Department 13 |
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| 368 | 368 | | of Agriculture farm number; and 14 |
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| 369 | 369 | | (L) for any other activities, as determined 15 |
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| 370 | 370 | | by the Secretary. 16 |
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| 371 | 371 | | (2) P |
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| 372 | 372 | | ERMISSIBLE ACTIVITIES.—An eligible enti-17 |
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| 373 | 373 | | ty that receives assistance under the program may 18 |
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| 374 | 374 | | use the funds— 19 |
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| 375 | 375 | | (A) for activities associated with strength-20 |
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| 376 | 376 | | ening the economic security of qualified bene-21 |
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| 377 | 377 | | ficiaries by increasing access to markets and 22 |
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| 378 | 378 | | capital; 23 |
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| 380 | 380 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 14 |
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| 381 | 381 | | •HR 2536 IH |
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| 382 | 382 | | (B) to provide direct assistance to qualified 1 |
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| 383 | 383 | | beneficiaries in assessing, purchasing, acquir-2 |
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| 384 | 384 | | ing, or retaining eligible land; 3 |
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| 385 | 385 | | (C) for activities designed to support farm 4 |
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| 386 | 386 | | establishment and long-term viability; 5 |
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| 387 | 387 | | (D) to establish a revolving loan fund or 6 |
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| 388 | 388 | | other innovative financial mechanism designed 7 |
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| 389 | 389 | | for the purpose of investing in covered projects 8 |
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| 390 | 390 | | beyond the initial project timeline; and 9 |
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| 391 | 391 | | (E) to provide technical assistance that 10 |
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| 392 | 392 | | meets the specific needs of, and is accessible to 11 |
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| 393 | 393 | | qualified beneficiaries, including— 12 |
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| 394 | 394 | | (i) providing translation and interpre-13 |
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| 395 | 395 | | tation services; 14 |
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| 396 | 396 | | (ii) developing and carrying out strat-15 |
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| 397 | 397 | | egies to identify unique needs and gaps in 16 |
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| 398 | 398 | | access, knowledge, and services; and 17 |
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| 399 | 399 | | (iii) specialized consultation, training, 18 |
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| 400 | 400 | | coaching, capacity building, and mentoring 19 |
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| 401 | 401 | | focused on— 20 |
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| 402 | 402 | | (I) accessing, purchasing, acquir-21 |
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| 403 | 403 | | ing, or retaining eligible land; 22 |
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| 404 | 404 | | (II) comprehension of, prepara-23 |
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| 405 | 405 | | tion to apply for, and complying with 24 |
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| 406 | 406 | | Department of Agriculture programs; 25 |
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| 408 | 408 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 15 |
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| 409 | 409 | | •HR 2536 IH |
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| 410 | 410 | | (III) succession planning; 1 |
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| 411 | 411 | | (IV) market planning and risk 2 |
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| 412 | 412 | | analysis; 3 |
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| 413 | 413 | | (V) cooperative development; 4 |
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| 414 | 414 | | (VI) legal and tax issues; 5 |
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| 415 | 415 | | (VII) developing business plans 6 |
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| 416 | 416 | | and feasibility studies; 7 |
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| 417 | 417 | | (VIII) financial planning and rec-8 |
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| 418 | 418 | | ordkeeping; 9 |
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| 419 | 419 | | (IX) enterprise, business, and 10 |
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| 420 | 420 | | labor management; and 11 |
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| 421 | 421 | | (X) any other activities as deter-12 |
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| 422 | 422 | | mined by the Secretary. 13 |
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| 423 | 423 | | (3) S |
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| 424 | 424 | | UBCONTRACT.—An eligible entity may 14 |
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| 425 | 425 | | subcontract with an organization to carry out a use 15 |
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| 426 | 426 | | or activity under paragraph (1) or (2) if the services 16 |
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| 427 | 427 | | of the subcontractor are necessary. 17 |
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| 428 | 428 | | (4) F |
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| 429 | 429 | | UNDING MECHANISM .— 18 |
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| 430 | 430 | | (A) E |
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| 431 | 431 | | LIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The Secretary 19 |
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| 432 | 432 | | shall make funding available under the program 20 |
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| 433 | 433 | | to eligible entities in the form of— 21 |
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| 434 | 434 | | (i) grants; 22 |
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| 435 | 435 | | (ii) cooperative agreements; 23 |
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| 437 | 437 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 16 |
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| 438 | 438 | | •HR 2536 IH |
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| 439 | 439 | | (iii) capitalization loans, in the case of 1 |
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| 440 | 440 | | an activity described in paragraph (2)(D); 2 |
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| 441 | 441 | | or 3 |
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| 442 | 442 | | (iv) other means, as determined by 4 |
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| 443 | 443 | | the Secretary. 5 |
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| 444 | 444 | | (B) Q |
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| 445 | 445 | | UALIFIED BENEFICIARIES .—In car-6 |
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| 446 | 446 | | rying out covered projects under the program, 7 |
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| 447 | 447 | | an eligible entity shall provide direct assistance 8 |
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| 448 | 448 | | to qualified beneficiaries in the form of— 9 |
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| 449 | 449 | | (i) grants; 10 |
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| 450 | 450 | | (ii) loans (both long-term and in-11 |
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| 451 | 451 | | terim); or 12 |
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| 452 | 452 | | (iii) other direct payments or assist-13 |
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| 453 | 453 | | ance, as determined by the Secretary. 14 |
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| 454 | 454 | | (5) R |
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| 455 | 455 | | EPAYMENT OF FUNDS IN CASE OF NON -15 |
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| 456 | 456 | | COMPLIANCE.—An eligible entity that violates the 16 |
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| 457 | 457 | | terms or conditions of assistance provided under the 17 |
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| 458 | 458 | | program shall reimburse the Secretary for that as-18 |
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| 459 | 459 | | sistance. 19 |
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| 460 | 460 | | (f) F |
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| 461 | 461 | | UNDING.— 20 |
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| 462 | 462 | | (1) A |
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| 463 | 463 | | UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS .— 21 |
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| 464 | 464 | | There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec-22 |
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| 465 | 465 | | retary such sums as are necessary to carry out this 23 |
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| 466 | 466 | | section. 24 |
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| 468 | 468 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 17 |
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| 469 | 469 | | •HR 2536 IH |
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| 470 | 470 | | (2) AGENCY CONTRIBUTION ACCOUNT .—In ad-1 |
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| 471 | 471 | | dition to amounts otherwise made available under 2 |
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| 472 | 472 | | paragraph (1), the Secretary may use funds avail-3 |
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| 473 | 473 | | able through 1 or more contribution accounts estab-4 |
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| 474 | 474 | | lished under section 1241(f)(1) of the Food Security 5 |
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| 475 | 475 | | Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3841(f)(1)). 6 |
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| 476 | 476 | | (3) A |
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| 477 | 477 | | DMINISTRATION.—Of the amounts made 7 |
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| 478 | 478 | | available to carry out the program, the Secretary 8 |
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| 479 | 479 | | may use an appropriate amount for the costs of im-9 |
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| 480 | 480 | | plementing and administering the program. 10 |
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| 481 | 481 | | (4) D |
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| 482 | 482 | | ISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.— 11 |
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| 483 | 483 | | (A) L |
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| 484 | 484 | | IMITATION.—An eligible entity that 12 |
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| 485 | 485 | | receives assistance under the program shall ob-13 |
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| 486 | 486 | | ligate the amounts for a covered project by not 14 |
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| 487 | 487 | | later than 5 years after the date on which the 15 |
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| 488 | 488 | | funds are made available to the eligible entity, 16 |
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| 489 | 489 | | unless the Secretary determines otherwise. 17 |
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| 490 | 490 | | (B) E |
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| 491 | 491 | | XCLUSION.—In the case of a covered 18 |
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| 492 | 492 | | project to support qualified beneficiaries in as-19 |
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| 493 | 493 | | sessing, purchasing, acquiring, or retaining eli-20 |
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| 494 | 494 | | gible land for a period longer than the 5-year 21 |
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| 495 | 495 | | period described in subparagraph (A), section 22 |
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| 496 | 496 | | 200.311 of title 2, Code of Federal Regulations 23 |
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| 497 | 497 | | (or a successor regulation) shall not apply. 24 |
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| 498 | 498 | | Æ |
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