| 1 | 1 | | II |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION S. 1237 |
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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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES |
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| 8 | 8 | | APRIL1 (legislative day, MARCH31), 2025 |
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| 9 | 9 | | Ms. S |
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| 10 | 10 | | MITHintroduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred |
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| 11 | 11 | | to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry |
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| 12 | 12 | | A BILL |
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| 13 | 13 | | To establish the New Producer Economic Security Program |
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| 14 | 14 | | within the Farm Service Agency Office of Outreach and |
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| 15 | 15 | | Education. |
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| 16 | 16 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 17 | 17 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 18 | 18 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 19 | 19 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘New Producer Eco-4 |
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| 20 | 20 | | nomic Security Act’’. 5 |
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| 21 | 21 | | SEC. 2. NEW PRODUCER ECONOMIC SECURITY PROGRAM. 6 |
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| 22 | 22 | | (a) D |
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| 23 | 23 | | EFINITIONS.—In this section: 7 |
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| 24 | 24 | | (1) A |
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| 25 | 25 | | UTHORIZED LEGAL ENTITY .—The term 8 |
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| 26 | 26 | | ‘‘authorized legal entity’’ means any corporation, 9 |
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| 27 | 27 | | business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited li-10 |
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| 29 | 29 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 |
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| 30 | 30 | | •S 1237 IS |
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| 31 | 31 | | ability company, association, joint venture, public 1 |
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| 32 | 32 | | corporation, cooperative, pension or investment fund, 2 |
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| 33 | 33 | | or any other legal or commercial entity organized or 3 |
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| 34 | 34 | | created under the laws of any State that meets each 4 |
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| 35 | 35 | | of the following requirements: 5 |
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| 36 | 36 | | (A) The entity is not a subsidiary of, or 6 |
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| 37 | 37 | | owned in any part by, a multilayered subsidiary 7 |
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| 38 | 38 | | entity. 8 |
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| 39 | 39 | | (B) The shareholders, partners, members, 9 |
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| 40 | 40 | | or beneficial owners of the entity do not exceed 10 |
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| 41 | 41 | | 25 individuals. 11 |
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| 42 | 42 | | (C) The shareholders, partners, members, 12 |
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| 43 | 43 | | or beneficial owners of the entity are all natural 13 |
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| 44 | 44 | | persons who— 14 |
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| 45 | 45 | | (i) regularly and frequently make, or 15 |
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| 46 | 46 | | take an important part in making, man-16 |
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| 47 | 47 | | agement decisions substantially contrib-17 |
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| 48 | 48 | | uting to or affecting the operation of a 18 |
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| 49 | 49 | | farm or forest; or 19 |
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| 50 | 50 | | (ii) perform physical work that signifi-20 |
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| 51 | 51 | | cantly contributes to cultivation, steward-21 |
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| 52 | 52 | | ship, crop or livestock production, or food 22 |
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| 53 | 53 | | production. 23 |
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| 54 | 54 | | (2) C |
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| 55 | 55 | | OVERED PROJECT .—The term ‘‘covered 24 |
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| 56 | 56 | | project’’ means a project described in subsection (e). 25 |
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| 58 | 58 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 |
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| 59 | 59 | | •S 1237 IS |
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| 60 | 60 | | (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.— 1 |
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| 61 | 61 | | (A) I |
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| 62 | 62 | | N GENERAL.—The term ‘‘eligible enti-2 |
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| 63 | 63 | | ty’’ means an entity that— 3 |
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| 64 | 64 | | (i) has demonstrated experience in 4 |
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| 65 | 65 | | serving qualified beneficiaries; and 5 |
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| 66 | 66 | | (ii) is— 6 |
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| 67 | 67 | | (I) a State, local, or territorial 7 |
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| 68 | 68 | | government; 8 |
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| 69 | 69 | | (II) an Indian Tribe or Tribal or-9 |
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| 70 | 70 | | ganization (as those terms are defined 10 |
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| 71 | 71 | | in section 4 of the Indian Self-Deter-11 |
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| 72 | 72 | | mination and Education Assistance 12 |
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| 73 | 73 | | Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)); 13 |
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| 74 | 74 | | (III) a Native community devel-14 |
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| 75 | 75 | | opment financial institution certified 15 |
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| 76 | 76 | | by the Secretary of the Treasury; 16 |
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| 77 | 77 | | (IV) a community development 17 |
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| 78 | 78 | | financial institution (as defined in sec-18 |
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| 79 | 79 | | tion 103 of the Community Develop-19 |
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| 80 | 80 | | ment Banking and Financial Institu-20 |
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| 81 | 81 | | tions Act of 1994 (12 U.S.C. 4702)) 21 |
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| 82 | 82 | | certified by the Secretary of the 22 |
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| 83 | 83 | | Treasury, acting through the Director 23 |
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| 84 | 84 | | of the Community Development Fi-24 |
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| 85 | 85 | | nancial Institutions Fund established 25 |
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| 87 | 87 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 |
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| 88 | 88 | | •S 1237 IS |
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| 89 | 89 | | under section 104(a) of that Act (12 1 |
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| 90 | 90 | | U.S.C. 4703(a)); 2 |
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| 91 | 91 | | (V) an organization described in 3 |
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| 92 | 92 | | paragraph (2) or (3) of section 501(c) 4 |
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| 93 | 93 | | of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 5 |
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| 94 | 94 | | and exempt from tax under section 6 |
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| 95 | 95 | | 501(a) of such Code; 7 |
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| 96 | 96 | | (VI) a foundation; 8 |
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| 97 | 97 | | (VII) a cooperative entity; 9 |
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| 98 | 98 | | (VIII) an institution of higher 10 |
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| 99 | 99 | | education (as defined in section 101 11 |
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| 100 | 100 | | of the Higher Education Act of 1965 12 |
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| 101 | 101 | | (20 U.S.C. 1001)); 13 |
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| 102 | 102 | | (IX) a financial institution de-14 |
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| 103 | 103 | | scribed in section 1.7(b)(1)(B) of the 15 |
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| 104 | 104 | | Farm Credit Act of 1971 (12 U.S.C. 16 |
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| 105 | 105 | | 2015(b)(1)(B)); and 17 |
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| 106 | 106 | | (X) any other appropriate part-18 |
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| 107 | 107 | | ner, as determined by the Secretary. 19 |
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| 108 | 108 | | (B) E |
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| 109 | 109 | | XCLUSION.—The term ‘‘eligible enti-20 |
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| 110 | 110 | | ty’’ does not include a corporation that is for-21 |
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| 111 | 111 | | eign-based or foreign-owned. 22 |
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| 112 | 112 | | (4) E |
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| 113 | 113 | | LIGIBLE LAND.— 23 |
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| 114 | 114 | | (A) I |
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| 115 | 115 | | N GENERAL.—The term ‘‘eligible 24 |
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| 116 | 116 | | land’’ means— 25 |
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| 119 | 119 | | •S 1237 IS |
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| 120 | 120 | | (i) agricultural land; 1 |
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| 121 | 121 | | (ii) private land; 2 |
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| 122 | 122 | | (iii) urban land; 3 |
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| 123 | 123 | | (iv) public land, including Federal, 4 |
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| 124 | 124 | | State, and municipally owned or managed 5 |
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| 125 | 125 | | land; 6 |
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| 126 | 126 | | (v) lands held in common that are 7 |
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| 127 | 127 | | controlled and managed by groups of indi-8 |
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| 128 | 128 | | viduals; 9 |
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| 129 | 129 | | (vi) lands held in trust; 10 |
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| 130 | 130 | | (vii) multiple parcels of land described 11 |
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| 131 | 131 | | in any of clauses (i) through (vi) that are 12 |
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| 132 | 132 | | noncontiguous; and 13 |
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| 133 | 133 | | (viii) public or private shoreline or 14 |
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| 134 | 134 | | intertidal zone areas, which may be wholly 15 |
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| 135 | 135 | | or partially underwater. 16 |
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| 136 | 136 | | (B) E |
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| 137 | 137 | | XCLUSION.—The term ‘‘eligible land’’ 17 |
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| 138 | 138 | | does not include a natural area (as defined in 18 |
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| 139 | 139 | | section 650.23(a) of title 7, Code of Federal 19 |
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| 140 | 140 | | Regulations (or successor regulations)). 20 |
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| 141 | 141 | | (5) P |
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| 142 | 142 | | ROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 21 |
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| 143 | 143 | | the New Producer Economic Security Program es-22 |
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| 144 | 144 | | tablished under subsection (b). 23 |
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| 145 | 145 | | (6) Q |
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| 146 | 146 | | UALIFIED BENEFICIARY.— 24 |
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| 149 | 149 | | •S 1237 IS |
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| 150 | 150 | | (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘qualified 1 |
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| 151 | 151 | | beneficiary’’ means a farmer, a rancher, or a 2 |
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| 152 | 152 | | forest owner who— 3 |
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| 153 | 153 | | (i) is a natural person; 4 |
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| 154 | 154 | | (ii) is— 5 |
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| 155 | 155 | | (I) a shareholder in an author-6 |
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| 156 | 156 | | ized legal entity; 7 |
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| 157 | 157 | | (II) an officer, director, or em-8 |
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| 158 | 158 | | ployee of an authorized legal entity; 9 |
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| 159 | 159 | | (III) a member or manager of an 10 |
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| 160 | 160 | | authorized legal entity; 11 |
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| 161 | 161 | | (IV) a partner in an authorized 12 |
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| 162 | 162 | | legal entity; 13 |
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| 163 | 163 | | (V) a beneficiary or trustee of an 14 |
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| 164 | 164 | | authorized legal entity; or 15 |
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| 165 | 165 | | (VI) any other individual who— 16 |
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| 166 | 166 | | (aa) regularly and frequently 17 |
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| 167 | 167 | | makes, or takes an important 18 |
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| 168 | 168 | | part in making, management de-19 |
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| 169 | 169 | | cisions substantially contributing 20 |
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| 170 | 170 | | to or affecting the operation of a 21 |
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| 171 | 171 | | farm or forest; or 22 |
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| 172 | 172 | | (bb) performs physical work 23 |
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| 173 | 173 | | that significantly contributes to 24 |
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| 174 | 174 | | cultivation, stewardship, crop or 25 |
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| 176 | 176 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7 |
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| 177 | 177 | | •S 1237 IS |
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| 178 | 178 | | livestock production, or food pro-1 |
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| 179 | 179 | | duction; and 2 |
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| 180 | 180 | | (iii)(I) has never operated, or has not 3 |
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| 181 | 181 | | operated for more than 10 consecutive 4 |
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| 182 | 182 | | years, a farm or a ranch; 5 |
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| 183 | 183 | | (II) operates only on rented or leased 6 |
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| 184 | 184 | | land; 7 |
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| 185 | 185 | | (III) has an income that is at or 8 |
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| 186 | 186 | | below 200 percent of the national poverty 9 |
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| 187 | 187 | | level or half of the median household in-10 |
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| 188 | 188 | | come of the county in which the natural 11 |
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| 189 | 189 | | person is located; or 12 |
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| 190 | 190 | | (IV) is economically disadvantaged, as 13 |
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| 191 | 191 | | determined by the Secretary. 14 |
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| 192 | 192 | | (B) E |
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| 193 | 193 | | XCLUSION.—The term ‘‘qualified 15 |
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| 194 | 194 | | beneficiary’’ does not include a natural person 16 |
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| 195 | 195 | | who solely provides capital to an authorized 17 |
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| 196 | 196 | | legal entity that is not a qualified beneficiary 18 |
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| 197 | 197 | | described in subparagraph (A). 19 |
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| 198 | 198 | | (7) S |
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| 199 | 199 | | ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 20 |
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| 200 | 200 | | the Secretary of Agriculture. 21 |
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| 201 | 201 | | (b) E |
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| 202 | 202 | | STABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 22 |
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| 203 | 203 | | within the Farm Service Agency a competitive program, 23 |
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| 204 | 204 | | to be known as the ‘‘New Producer Economic Security 24 |
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| 205 | 205 | | Program’’, to make grants to, enter into cooperative 25 |
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| 208 | 208 | | •S 1237 IS |
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| 209 | 209 | | agreements with, or provide other capital support to eligi-1 |
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| 210 | 210 | | ble entities to carry out covered projects in accordance 2 |
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| 211 | 211 | | with subsection (e). 3 |
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| 212 | 212 | | (c) P |
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| 213 | 213 | | URPOSE.—The purposes of the program are— 4 |
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| 214 | 214 | | (1) to strengthen the food systems security of 5 |
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| 215 | 215 | | the United States by efficiently investing in commu-6 |
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| 216 | 216 | | nity-led solutions to increasing access to land, cap-7 |
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| 217 | 217 | | ital, and markets for qualified beneficiaries; and 8 |
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| 218 | 218 | | (2) to support projects that— 9 |
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| 219 | 219 | | (A) support farm establishment and long- 10 |
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| 220 | 220 | | term farm business viability; 11 |
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| 221 | 221 | | (B) support the financial viability of quali-12 |
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| 222 | 222 | | fied beneficiaries; 13 |
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| 223 | 223 | | (C) support the physical and mental health 14 |
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| 224 | 224 | | of qualified beneficiaries; 15 |
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| 225 | 225 | | (D) increase land access; 16 |
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| 226 | 226 | | (E) prevent land loss; 17 |
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| 227 | 227 | | (F) establish innovative ways to make land 18 |
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| 228 | 228 | | accessible to qualified beneficiaries; 19 |
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| 229 | 229 | | (G) transition farmland from existing land-20 |
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| 230 | 230 | | owners to qualified beneficiaries; and 21 |
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| 231 | 231 | | (H) provide appropriate technical assist-22 |
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| 232 | 232 | | ance related to permissible activities described 23 |
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| 233 | 233 | | in subsection (e)(2). 24 |
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| 234 | 234 | | (d) S |
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| 235 | 235 | | ELECTION.— 25 |
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| 238 | 238 | | •S 1237 IS |
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| 239 | 239 | | (1) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS .—To be eligi-1 |
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| 240 | 240 | | ble to receive assistance under the program, an eligi-2 |
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| 241 | 241 | | ble entity shall submit to the Secretary an applica-3 |
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| 242 | 242 | | tion at such time, in such manner, and containing 4 |
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| 243 | 243 | | such information as the Secretary may require, in-5 |
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| 244 | 244 | | cluding— 6 |
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| 245 | 245 | | (A) information demonstrating that the 7 |
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| 246 | 246 | | covered project the eligible entity seeks to carry 8 |
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| 247 | 247 | | out is designed— 9 |
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| 248 | 248 | | (i) to serve qualified beneficiaries; and 10 |
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| 249 | 249 | | (ii) to meet the purposes of the pro-11 |
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| 250 | 250 | | gram described in subsection (c); 12 |
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| 251 | 251 | | (B) a description of how project activities 13 |
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| 252 | 252 | | will support the long-term financial viability of 14 |
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| 253 | 253 | | qualified beneficiaries; 15 |
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| 254 | 254 | | (C) a plan for notification and consultation 16 |
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| 255 | 255 | | with local Tribal governments for the future 17 |
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| 256 | 256 | | sale of land, if applicable; 18 |
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| 257 | 257 | | (D) an analysis of anticipated benefits to 19 |
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| 258 | 258 | | the community and the agricultural economy 20 |
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| 259 | 259 | | within the project area; and 21 |
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| 260 | 260 | | (E) a plan for evaluation, data manage-22 |
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| 261 | 261 | | ment, communication, and reporting of project 23 |
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| 262 | 262 | | findings and results. 24 |
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| 265 | 265 | | •S 1237 IS |
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| 266 | 266 | | (2) EVALUATION AND SELECTION OF APPLICA -1 |
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| 267 | 267 | | TIONS.— 2 |
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| 268 | 268 | | (A) E |
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| 269 | 269 | | VALUATION PROCESS .—The Sec-3 |
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| 270 | 270 | | retary shall develop a process for evaluating 4 |
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| 271 | 271 | | and selecting applications submitted under 5 |
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| 272 | 272 | | paragraph (1) in collaboration with the stake-6 |
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| 273 | 273 | | holder committee established under subpara-7 |
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| 274 | 274 | | graph (B). 8 |
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| 275 | 275 | | (B) S |
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| 276 | 276 | | TAKEHOLDER COMMITTEE .— 9 |
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| 277 | 277 | | (i) I |
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| 278 | 278 | | N GENERAL.—Not later than 180 10 |
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| 279 | 279 | | days after the date of enactment of this 11 |
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| 280 | 280 | | Act, the Secretary shall establish and con-12 |
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| 281 | 281 | | vene a stakeholder committee to provide 13 |
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| 282 | 282 | | input on the distribution of funds and the 14 |
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| 283 | 283 | | evaluation and selection of applications 15 |
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| 284 | 284 | | submitted under paragraph (1). 16 |
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| 285 | 285 | | (ii) C |
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| 286 | 286 | | ONSIDERATION.—The Secretary 17 |
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| 287 | 287 | | shall ensure that the stakeholder com-18 |
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| 288 | 288 | | mittee established under clause (i) includes 19 |
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| 289 | 289 | | perspectives reflecting— 20 |
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| 290 | 290 | | (I) the complexity of the rural 21 |
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| 291 | 291 | | and urban agricultural landscapes of 22 |
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| 292 | 292 | | the United States; and 23 |
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| 295 | 295 | | •S 1237 IS |
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| 296 | 296 | | (II) the wide variety of agricul-1 |
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| 297 | 297 | | tural production models employed by 2 |
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| 298 | 298 | | qualified beneficiaries. 3 |
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| 299 | 299 | | (C) P |
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| 300 | 300 | | RIORITY.—In selecting applications 4 |
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| 301 | 301 | | submitted under paragraph (1), the Secretary 5 |
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| 302 | 302 | | shall give priority to applications for covered 6 |
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| 303 | 303 | | projects that— 7 |
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| 304 | 304 | | (i) provide direct financial assistance 8 |
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| 305 | 305 | | to qualified beneficiaries; 9 |
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| 306 | 306 | | (ii) involve a substantial and effective 10 |
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| 307 | 307 | | collaborative network or partnership of 11 |
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| 308 | 308 | | public or private entities; 12 |
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| 309 | 309 | | (iii) include a right of first refusal for 13 |
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| 310 | 310 | | Tribal citizens or governments when land 14 |
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| 311 | 311 | | becomes available on or near Tribal com-15 |
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| 312 | 312 | | munities; 16 |
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| 313 | 313 | | (iv) involve mechanisms, such as a 17 |
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| 314 | 314 | | deed restriction or conservation easement, 18 |
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| 315 | 315 | | that restrict the resale value of eligible 19 |
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| 316 | 316 | | land to protect the land for agricultural 20 |
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| 317 | 317 | | use; 21 |
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| 318 | 318 | | (v) support the voluntary transition of 22 |
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| 319 | 319 | | agricultural land from existing producers 23 |
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| 320 | 320 | | to qualified beneficiaries; 24 |
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| 323 | 323 | | •S 1237 IS |
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| 324 | 324 | | (vi) provide technical assistance, in-1 |
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| 325 | 325 | | cluding translation and interpretation serv-2 |
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| 326 | 326 | | ices; 3 |
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| 327 | 327 | | (vii) include activities under sub-4 |
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| 328 | 328 | | section (e) designed to support farm-5 |
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| 329 | 329 | | workers; or 6 |
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| 330 | 330 | | (viii) support long-term adoption of 7 |
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| 331 | 331 | | conservation practices that are consistent 8 |
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| 332 | 332 | | with conservation practice standards of the 9 |
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| 333 | 333 | | Natural Resources Conservation Service 10 |
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| 334 | 334 | | and designed to achieve conservation out-11 |
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| 335 | 335 | | comes. 12 |
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| 336 | 336 | | (e) C |
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| 337 | 337 | | OVEREDPROJECTS.— 13 |
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| 338 | 338 | | (1) R |
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| 339 | 339 | | EQUIRED USE OF FUNDS .—An eligible en-14 |
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| 340 | 340 | | tity that receives assistance under the program shall 15 |
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| 341 | 341 | | provide direct assistance to qualified beneficiaries in 16 |
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| 342 | 342 | | order to facilitate access to land, capital, and mar-17 |
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| 343 | 343 | | kets, which may include payments— 18 |
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| 344 | 344 | | (A) to acquire real property (including air 19 |
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| 345 | 345 | | rights, water rights, and other interests there-20 |
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| 346 | 346 | | in), including closing costs; 21 |
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| 347 | 347 | | (B) to subsidize interest rates and mort-22 |
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| 348 | 348 | | gage principal amounts for qualified bene-23 |
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| 349 | 349 | | ficiaries; 24 |
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| 352 | 352 | | •S 1237 IS |
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| 353 | 353 | | (C) to provide down payment assistance to 1 |
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| 354 | 354 | | decrease farm mortgages; 2 |
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| 355 | 355 | | (D) to secure clear title on heirs’ property; 3 |
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| 356 | 356 | | (E) to conduct surveys and assessments of 4 |
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| 357 | 357 | | eligible land; 5 |
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| 358 | 358 | | (F) to improve or remediate land, water, 6 |
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| 359 | 359 | | and soil; 7 |
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| 360 | 360 | | (G) to construct or repair infrastructure; 8 |
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| 361 | 361 | | (H) to support land use planning; 9 |
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| 362 | 362 | | (I) to acquire succession planning assist-10 |
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| 363 | 363 | | ance; 11 |
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| 364 | 364 | | (J) to carry out Tribal consultation; 12 |
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| 365 | 365 | | (K) to support acquisition of a Department 13 |
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| 366 | 366 | | of Agriculture farm number; and 14 |
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| 367 | 367 | | (L) for any other activities, as determined 15 |
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| 368 | 368 | | by the Secretary. 16 |
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| 369 | 369 | | (2) P |
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| 370 | 370 | | ERMISSIBLE ACTIVITIES.—An eligible enti-17 |
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| 371 | 371 | | ty that receives assistance under the program may 18 |
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| 372 | 372 | | use the funds— 19 |
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| 373 | 373 | | (A) for activities associated with strength-20 |
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| 374 | 374 | | ening the economic security of qualified bene-21 |
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| 375 | 375 | | ficiaries by increasing access to markets and 22 |
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| 376 | 376 | | capital; 23 |
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| 379 | 379 | | •S 1237 IS |
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| 380 | 380 | | (B) to provide direct assistance to qualified 1 |
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| 381 | 381 | | beneficiaries in assessing, purchasing, acquir-2 |
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| 382 | 382 | | ing, or retaining eligible land; 3 |
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| 383 | 383 | | (C) for activities designed to support farm 4 |
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| 384 | 384 | | establishment and long-term viability; 5 |
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| 385 | 385 | | (D) to establish a revolving loan fund or 6 |
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| 386 | 386 | | other innovative financial mechanism designed 7 |
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| 387 | 387 | | for the purpose of investing in covered projects 8 |
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| 388 | 388 | | beyond the initial project timeline; and 9 |
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| 389 | 389 | | (E) to provide technical assistance that 10 |
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| 390 | 390 | | meets the specific needs of, and is accessible to 11 |
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| 391 | 391 | | qualified beneficiaries, including— 12 |
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| 392 | 392 | | (i) providing translation and interpre-13 |
|---|
| 393 | 393 | | tation services; 14 |
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| 394 | 394 | | (ii) developing and carrying out strat-15 |
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| 395 | 395 | | egies to identify unique needs and gaps in 16 |
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| 396 | 396 | | access, knowledge, and services; and 17 |
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| 397 | 397 | | (iii) specialized consultation, training, 18 |
|---|
| 398 | 398 | | coaching, capacity building, and mentoring 19 |
|---|
| 399 | 399 | | focused on— 20 |
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| 400 | 400 | | (I) accessing, purchasing, acquir-21 |
|---|
| 401 | 401 | | ing, or retaining eligible land; 22 |
|---|
| 402 | 402 | | (II) comprehension of, prepara-23 |
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| 403 | 403 | | tion to apply for, and complying with 24 |
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| 404 | 404 | | Department of Agriculture programs; 25 |
|---|
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| 407 | 407 | | •S 1237 IS |
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| 408 | 408 | | (III) succession planning; 1 |
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| 409 | 409 | | (IV) market planning and risk 2 |
|---|
| 410 | 410 | | analysis; 3 |
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| 411 | 411 | | (V) cooperative development; 4 |
|---|
| 412 | 412 | | (VI) legal and tax issues; 5 |
|---|
| 413 | 413 | | (VII) developing business plans 6 |
|---|
| 414 | 414 | | and feasibility studies; 7 |
|---|
| 415 | 415 | | (VIII) financial planning and rec-8 |
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| 416 | 416 | | ordkeeping; 9 |
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| 417 | 417 | | (IX) enterprise, business, and 10 |
|---|
| 418 | 418 | | labor management; and 11 |
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| 419 | 419 | | (X) any other activities as deter-12 |
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| 420 | 420 | | mined by the Secretary. 13 |
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| 421 | 421 | | (3) S |
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| 422 | 422 | | UBCONTRACT.—An eligible entity may 14 |
|---|
| 423 | 423 | | subcontract with an organization to carry out a use 15 |
|---|
| 424 | 424 | | or activity under paragraph (1) or (2) if the services 16 |
|---|
| 425 | 425 | | of the subcontractor are necessary. 17 |
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| 426 | 426 | | (4) F |
|---|
| 427 | 427 | | UNDING MECHANISM .— 18 |
|---|
| 428 | 428 | | (A) E |
|---|
| 429 | 429 | | LIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The Secretary 19 |
|---|
| 430 | 430 | | shall make funding available under the program 20 |
|---|
| 431 | 431 | | to eligible entities in the form of— 21 |
|---|
| 432 | 432 | | (i) grants; 22 |
|---|
| 433 | 433 | | (ii) cooperative agreements; 23 |
|---|
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| 436 | 436 | | •S 1237 IS |
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| 437 | 437 | | (iii) capitalization loans, in the case of 1 |
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| 438 | 438 | | an activity described in paragraph (2)(D); 2 |
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| 439 | 439 | | or 3 |
|---|
| 440 | 440 | | (iv) other means, as determined by 4 |
|---|
| 441 | 441 | | the Secretary. 5 |
|---|
| 442 | 442 | | (B) Q |
|---|
| 443 | 443 | | UALIFIED BENEFICIARIES .—In car-6 |
|---|
| 444 | 444 | | rying out covered projects under the program, 7 |
|---|
| 445 | 445 | | an eligible entity shall provide direct assistance 8 |
|---|
| 446 | 446 | | to qualified beneficiaries in the form of— 9 |
|---|
| 447 | 447 | | (i) grants; 10 |
|---|
| 448 | 448 | | (ii) loans (both long-term and in-11 |
|---|
| 449 | 449 | | terim); or 12 |
|---|
| 450 | 450 | | (iii) other direct payments or assist-13 |
|---|
| 451 | 451 | | ance, as determined by the Secretary. 14 |
|---|
| 452 | 452 | | (5) R |
|---|
| 453 | 453 | | EPAYMENT OF FUNDS IN CASE OF NON -15 |
|---|
| 454 | 454 | | COMPLIANCE.—An eligible entity that violates the 16 |
|---|
| 455 | 455 | | terms or conditions of assistance provided under the 17 |
|---|
| 456 | 456 | | program shall reimburse the Secretary for that as-18 |
|---|
| 457 | 457 | | sistance. 19 |
|---|
| 458 | 458 | | (f) F |
|---|
| 459 | 459 | | UNDING.— 20 |
|---|
| 460 | 460 | | (1) A |
|---|
| 461 | 461 | | UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS .— 21 |
|---|
| 462 | 462 | | There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec-22 |
|---|
| 463 | 463 | | retary such sums as are necessary to carry out this 23 |
|---|
| 464 | 464 | | section. 24 |
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| 467 | 467 | | •S 1237 IS |
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| 468 | 468 | | (2) AGENCY CONTRIBUTION ACCOUNT .—In ad-1 |
|---|
| 469 | 469 | | dition to amounts otherwise made available under 2 |
|---|
| 470 | 470 | | paragraph (1), the Secretary may use funds avail-3 |
|---|
| 471 | 471 | | able through 1 or more contribution accounts estab-4 |
|---|
| 472 | 472 | | lished under section 1241(f)(1) of the Food Security 5 |
|---|
| 473 | 473 | | Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3841(f)(1)). 6 |
|---|
| 474 | 474 | | (3) A |
|---|
| 475 | 475 | | DMINISTRATION.—Of the amounts made 7 |
|---|
| 476 | 476 | | available to carry out the program, the Secretary 8 |
|---|
| 477 | 477 | | may use an appropriate amount for the costs of im-9 |
|---|
| 478 | 478 | | plementing and administering the program. 10 |
|---|
| 479 | 479 | | (4) D |
|---|
| 480 | 480 | | ISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.— 11 |
|---|
| 481 | 481 | | (A) L |
|---|
| 482 | 482 | | IMITATION.—An eligible entity that 12 |
|---|
| 483 | 483 | | receives assistance under the program shall ob-13 |
|---|
| 484 | 484 | | ligate the amounts for a covered project by not 14 |
|---|
| 485 | 485 | | later than 5 years after the date on which the 15 |
|---|
| 486 | 486 | | funds are made available to the eligible entity, 16 |
|---|
| 487 | 487 | | unless the Secretary determines otherwise. 17 |
|---|
| 488 | 488 | | (B) E |
|---|
| 489 | 489 | | XCLUSION.—In the case of a covered 18 |
|---|
| 490 | 490 | | project to support qualified beneficiaries in as-19 |
|---|
| 491 | 491 | | sessing, purchasing, acquiring, or retaining eli-20 |
|---|
| 492 | 492 | | gible land for a period longer than the 5-year 21 |
|---|
| 493 | 493 | | period described in subparagraph (A), section 22 |
|---|
| 494 | 494 | | 200.311 of title 2, Code of Federal Regulations 23 |
|---|
| 495 | 495 | | (or a successor regulation) shall not apply. 24 |
|---|
| 496 | 496 | | Æ |
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