Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB971 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	II
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. 971
5	5	To provide for the conservation of the Chesapeake Bay, and for other
6	6	purposes.
7	7	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
8	8	MARCH11, 2025
9	9	Mr. V
10	10	ANHOLLEN(for himself, Ms. ALSOBROOKS, Mr. FETTERMAN, Mr.
11	11	K
12	12	AINE, and Mr. WARNER) introduced the following bill; which was read
13	13	twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and For-
14	14	estry
15	15	A BILL
16	16	To provide for the conservation of the Chesapeake Bay,
17	17	and for other purposes.
18	18	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
19	19	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
20	20	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
21	21	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Chesapeake Bay Con-4
22	22	servation Acceleration Act of 2025’’. 5
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26	26	SEC. 2. CHESAPEAKE BAY STATES PARTNERSHIP INITIA-1
27	27	TIVE. 2
28	28	Chapter 5 of subtitle D of title XII of the Food Secu-3
29	29	rity Act of 1985 is amended by inserting after section 4
30	30	1240M (16 U.S.C. 3839bb) the following: 5
31	31	‘‘SEC. 1240N. CHESAPEAKE BAY STATES PARTNERSHIP INI-6
32	32	TIATIVE. 7
33	33	‘‘(a) D
34	34	EFINITIONS.—In this section: 8
35	35	‘‘(1) C
36	36	HESAPEAKE BAY WATERSHED .—The 9
37	37	term ‘Chesapeake Bay watershed’ means— 10
38	38	‘‘(A) the Chesapeake Bay; 11
39	39	‘‘(B) the portions of the States of Dela-12
40	40	ware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Vir-13
41	41	ginia, and West Virginia that contain the tribu-14
42	42	taries, backwaters, and side channels (including 15
43	43	their watersheds) that drain into the Chesa-16
44	44	peake Bay; and 17
45	45	‘‘(C) the District of Columbia. 18
46	46	‘‘(2) I
47	47	NITIATIVE.—The term ‘Initiative’ means 19
48	48	the Chesapeake Bay States Partnership Initiative es-20
49	49	tablished under subsection (b). 21
50	50	‘‘(b) E
51	51	STABLISHMENT AND PURPOSE.—The Sec-22
52	52	retary shall establish and carry out an initiative, to be 23
53	53	known as the ‘Chesapeake Bay States Partnership Initia-24
54	54	tive’, to assist producers in implementing conservation ac-25
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58	58	tivities on agricultural land in the Chesapeake Bay water-1
59	59	shed for the purposes of— 2
60	60	‘‘(1) improving water quality and quantity; 3
61	61	‘‘(2) restoring, enhancing, and preserving soil, 4
62	62	air, and related resources; and 5
63	63	‘‘(3) increasing the resilience of agricultural 6
64	64	production to withstand the impacts of climate 7
65	65	change. 8
66	66	‘‘(c) C
67	67	ONSERVATION ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary 9
68	68	shall provide funds made available to carry out the Initia-10
69	69	tive through applicable programs under this subtitle, in-11
70	70	cluding by providing enrollment opportunities that are tar-12
71	71	geted to the Chesapeake Bay watershed, to assist pro-13
72	72	ducers in the Chesapeake Bay watershed in enhancing 14
73	73	land and water resources by— 15
74	74	‘‘(1) controlling erosion and reducing sediment 16
75	75	and nutrient levels in groundwater and surface 17
76	76	water; and 18
77	77	‘‘(2) planning, designing, implementing, and 19
78	78	evaluating habitat conservation, restoration, and en-20
79	79	hancement measures in cases in which there is sig-21
80	80	nificant ecological value if the applicable land is— 22
81	81	‘‘(A) retained in the current use of the 23
82	82	land; or 24
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86	86	‘‘(B) restored to the natural condition of 1
87	87	the land. 2
88	88	‘‘(d) C
89	89	ONSIDERATIONS.—In providing funds under 3
90	90	the Initiative, the Secretary shall give special consider-4
91	91	ation to applications— 5
92	92	‘‘(1) submitted by producers in the Chesapeake 6
93	93	Bay watershed river basins in which nutrient reduc-7
94	94	tion efforts would be most effective; or 8
95	95	‘‘(2) to carry out conservation activities that re-9
96	96	duce nitrogen and sediment, improve management of 10
97	97	livestock and waste, or conserve wetlands in the 11
98	98	Chesapeake Bay watershed. 12
99	99	‘‘(e) D
100	100	UTIES OFSECRETARY.—In carrying out the 13
101	101	Initiative, the Secretary shall— 14
102	102	‘‘(1) as available, use existing plans, models, 15
103	103	and assessments to assist producers in implementing 16
104	104	conservation activities; and 17
105	105	‘‘(2) proceed expeditiously to provide funding to 18
106	106	producers to implement conservation activities that 19
107	107	are consistent with State strategies for the restora-20
108	108	tion of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. 21
109	109	‘‘(f) C
110	110	ONSULTATION AND COORDINATION.—The Sec-22
111	111	retary shall— 23
112	112	‘‘(1) in consultation with appropriate Federal 24
113	113	agencies, ensure that conservation activities carried 25
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117	117	out under the Initiative complement Federal, State, 1
118	118	and local programs, including programs that address 2
119	119	water quality, in the Chesapeake Bay watershed; 3
120	120	and 4
121	121	‘‘(2) in carrying out this section, coordinate 5
122	122	with the Farm Service Agency to identify needs and 6
123	123	opportunities for buffer management on land subject 7
124	124	to a contract under the conservation reserve pro-8
125	125	gram under subchapter B of chapter 1 that may be 9
126	126	expiring soon. 10
127	127	‘‘(g) T
128	128	ASKFORCE ONCREDITINGCHESAPEAKEBAY 11
129	129	C
130	130	ONSERVATIONINVESTMENTS.— 12
131	131	‘‘(1) I
132	132	N GENERAL.—The Secretary and the Ad-13
133	133	ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 14
134	134	shall jointly establish a Federal task force, to be 15
135	135	known as the ‘Task Force on Crediting Chesapeake 16
136	136	Bay Conservation Investments’ (referred to in this 17
137	137	subsection as the ‘Task Force’). 18
138	138	‘‘(2) A
139	139	CTION PLAN.—The Task Force shall de-19
140	140	velop an action plan that— 20
141	141	‘‘(A) identifies improvements to the proc-21
142	142	esses of analyzing, reporting, and quantifying 22
143	143	nutrient reductions from conservation activities 23
144	144	in the Chesapeake Bay watershed; 24
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148	148	‘‘(B) is responsive to the needs of States in 1
149	149	the Chesapeake Bay watershed (including the 2
150	150	District of Columbia) and the agricultural com-3
151	151	munity; 4
152	152	‘‘(C) maintains the scientific integrity of 5
153	153	the decisionmaking process and accounting 6
154	154	tools under the Chesapeake Bay Program (as 7
155	155	defined in section 117(a) of the Federal Water 8
156	156	Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1267(a))); 9
157	157	and 10
158	158	‘‘(D) ensures producer privacy is protected. 11
159	159	‘‘(3) I
160	160	DENTIFICATION OF OPPORTUNITIES .— 12
161	161	The Task Force shall leverage findings from suc-13
162	162	cessful data-sharing pilot projects to identify oppor-14
163	163	tunities to integrate time-saving technologies for the 15
164	164	implementation of conservation activities in the 16
165	165	Chesapeake Bay watershed.’’. 17
166	166	SEC. 3. CONSERVATION RESERVE ENHANCEMENT PRO-18
167	167	GRAM PARTICIPATION. 19
168	168	(a) C
169	169	ONSERVATIONRESERVE.— 20
170	170	(1) R
171	171	EAUTHORIZATION.—Section 1231(a) of 21
172	172	the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3831(a)) 22
173	173	is amended by striking ‘‘the 2023 fiscal year’’ and 23
174	174	inserting ‘‘fiscal year 2028’’. 24
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178	178	(2) ELIGIBLE LAND.—Section 1231(b) of the 1
179	179	Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3831(b)) is 2
180	180	amended— 3
181	181	(A) in paragraph (6)(B)(ii), by striking 4
182	182	‘‘or’’ at the end; 5
183	183	(B) in paragraph (7)(C), by striking the 6
184	184	period at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 7
185	185	(C) by adding at the end the following: 8
186	186	‘‘(8) cropland, marginal pastureland, grass-9
187	187	lands, and other rural land that will— 10
188	188	‘‘(A) have a positive impact on water qual-11
189	189	ity in furtherance of the goals of the conserva-12
190	190	tion reserve enhancement program under sec-13
191	191	tion 1231A; and 14
192	192	‘‘(B) be devoted to a riparian buffer.’’. 15
193	193	(3) C
194	194	ONSERVATION RESERVE ENHANCEMENT 16
195	195	PROGRAM.—Section 1231A(b) of the Food Security 17
196	196	Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3831a(b)) is amended— 18
197	197	(A) in paragraph (3), by adding at the end 19
198	198	the following: 20
199	199	‘‘(C) U
200	200	PDATES.— 21
201	201	‘‘(i) I
202	202	N GENERAL.—The Secretary 22
203	203	shall provide to each signatory to an agree-23
204	204	ment under this subsection an option to 24
205	205	update the agreement, without renegoti-25
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209	209	ating other provisions of the agreement, to 1
210	210	include new incentives made available 2
211	211	under this subchapter beginning on Janu-3
212	212	ary 1, 2018, such as riparian forest buffer 4
213	213	management payments. 5
214	214	‘‘(ii) M
215	215	ATCHING FUNDS .—Require-6
216	216	ments for matching funds described in 7
217	217	paragraph (2)(B) shall not apply to an up-8
218	218	date to an agreement under clause (i).’’; 9
219	219	and 10
220	220	(B) by adding at the end the following: 11
221	221	‘‘(4) A
222	222	MENDMENTS.— 12
223	223	‘‘(A) I
224	224	N GENERAL.—In the case of an 13
225	225	amendment to an agreement under this sub-14
226	226	section, including an addendum to such an 15
227	227	agreement, the Secretary shall— 16
228	228	‘‘(i) streamline the amendment proc-17
229	229	ess relating to time-sensitive national pri-18
230	230	orities, including the Chesapeake Bay total 19
231	231	maximum daily load; and 20
232	232	‘‘(ii) give priority to simple amend-21
233	233	ments to update existing agreements in ac-22
234	234	cordance with paragraph (3)(C). 23
235	235	‘‘(B) S
236	236	IMPLE AMENDMENTS .—A simple 24
237	237	amendment to an agreement described in sub-25
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241	241	paragraph (A)(ii) shall not constitute a renego-1
242	242	tiation of the agreement.’’. 2
243	243	(4) P
244	244	AYMENTS.—Section 1234 of the Food Se-3
245	245	curity Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3834) is amended— 4
246	246	(A) in subsection (b)(4)— 5
247	247	(i) by striking ‘‘In addition’’ and in-6
248	248	serting the following: 7
249	249	‘‘(A) I
250	250	N GENERAL.—In addition’’; and 8
251	251	(ii) by adding at the end the fol-9
252	252	lowing: 10
253	253	‘‘(B) M
254	254	INIMUM PAYMENT FOR CERTAIN 11
255	255	CONTRACTS.—In the case of a contract updated 12
256	256	under section 1231A(b)(3)(C), the incentive 13
257	257	payment under subparagraph (A) shall be in an 14
258	258	amount that is not less than 40 percent of the 15
259	259	actual costs described in that subparagraph.’’; 16
260	260	and 17
261	261	(B) in subsection (g)(1), by striking 18
262	262	‘‘$50,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$100,000’’. 19
263	263	(b) E
264	264	NVIRONMENTAL QUALITYINCENTIVESPRO-20
265	265	GRAM.— 21
266	266	(1) C
267	267	ONSERVATION INCENTIVE CONTRACTS .— 22
268	268	Section 1240B(j)(2)(C) of the Food Security Act of 23
269	269	1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–2(j)(2)(C)) is amended— 24
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273	273	(A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 1
274	274	end; 2
275	275	(B) in clause (ii), by striking the period at 3
276	276	the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 4
277	277	(C) by adding at the end the following: 5
278	278	‘‘(iii) consider participation in the 6
279	279	conservation reserve program and the con-7
280	280	servation reserve enhancement program 8
281	281	under subchapter B of chapter 1, and 9
282	282	practices under those programs (such as 10
283	283	riparian buffers), in prioritizing grazing 11
284	284	practices under the program established by 12
285	285	this subchapter with respect to the effi-13
286	286	cient implementation of grazing systems to 14
287	287	holistically address resource concerns.’’. 15
288	288	(2) E
289	289	VALUATION OF APPLICATIONS .—Section 16
290	290	1240C(b) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 17
291	291	U.S.C. 3839aa–3(b)) is amended— 18
292	292	(A) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 19
293	293	the end; 20
294	294	(B) in paragraph (4), by striking the pe-21
295	295	riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 22
296	296	(C) by adding at the end the following: 23
297	297	‘‘(5) that would include grazing practices under 24
298	298	the program established by this subchapter, in con-25
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302	302	sideration of participation in the conservation re-1
303	303	serve program and the conservation reserve enhance-2
304	304	ment program under subchapter B of chapter 1, and 3
305	305	practices under those programs (such as riparian 4
306	306	buffers), with respect to the efficient implementation 5
307	307	of grazing systems to holistically address resource 6
308	308	concerns.’’. 7
309	309	SEC. 4. CHESAPEAKE BAY WATERSHED TURNKEY PILOT 8
310	310	PROGRAM. 9
311	311	Section 1231C of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 10
312	312	U.S.C. 3831c) is amended by adding at the end the fol-11
313	313	lowing: 12
314	314	‘‘(c) C
315	315	HESAPEAKE BAYWATERSHED TURNKEY 13
316	316	P
317	317	ILOTPROGRAM.— 14
318	318	‘‘(1) D
319	319	EFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 15
320	320	‘‘(A) C
321	321	HESAPEAKE BAY WATERSHED .— 16
322	322	The term ‘Chesapeake Bay watershed’ has the 17
323	323	meaning given the term in section 1240N(a). 18
324	324	‘‘(B) CREP
325	325	DEFINITIONS.—The terms 19
326	326	‘CREP’, ‘eligible land’, and ‘management’ have 20
327	327	the meanings given those terms in section 21
328	328	1231A(a). 22
329	329	‘‘(C) E
330	330	LIGIBLE PRACTICE.—The term ‘eli-23
331	331	gible practice’ means a forested riparian buffer 24
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335	335	practice under a CREP and any associated ac-1
336	336	tivities, including— 2
337	337	‘‘(i) a stream crossing; 3
338	338	‘‘(ii) fencing and alternate water sys-4
339	339	tems; 5
340	340	‘‘(iii) herbicide applications; and 6
341	341	‘‘(iv) any other activity that is appro-7
342	342	priate to establish the practice. 8
343	343	‘‘(D) P
344	344	ILOT PROGRAM.—The term ‘pilot 9
345	345	program’ means the pilot program established 10
346	346	under paragraph (2). 11
347	347	‘‘(E) T
348	348	ECHNICAL SERVICE PROVIDER .— 12
349	349	The term ‘technical service provider’ means a 13
350	350	third-party provider with which the Secretary 14
351	351	enters into an agreement under paragraph 15
352	352	(5)(A). 16
353	353	‘‘(2) E
354	354	STABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall es-17
355	355	tablish a pilot program under which the Secretary 18
356	356	shall provide, for voluntary owners and operators, 19
357	357	establishment and management of eligible practices 20
358	358	on eligible land located in the Chesapeake Bay wa-21
359	359	tershed that is enrolled through a CREP. 22
360	360	‘‘(3) D
361	361	UTIES OF SECRETARY .—With respect to 23
362	362	eligible land enrolled through the pilot program, the 24
363	363	Secretary— 25
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367	367	‘‘(A) may provide, for the owner or oper-1
368	368	ator, establishment and management of an eli-2
369	369	gible practice on the eligible land using a tech-3
370	370	nical service provider pursuant to an agreement 4
371	371	under paragraph (5); and 5
372	372	‘‘(B) shall not require the owner or oper-6
373	373	ator— 7
374	374	‘‘(i) to pay any costs of the establish-8
375	375	ment or management of an eligible prac-9
376	376	tice, including any compensation provided 10
377	377	under paragraph (5)(C); or 11
378	378	‘‘(ii) to submit to the Secretary any 12
379	379	additional paperwork with respect to the 13
380	380	pilot program. 14
381	381	‘‘(4) D
382	382	UTIES OF OWNERS AND OPERATORS .— 15
383	383	Each owner or operator of eligible land enrolled 16
384	384	through the pilot program— 17
385	385	‘‘(A) shall provide to the Secretary and 18
386	386	any technical service providers, as applicable, 19
387	387	access to the eligible land for purposes of the 20
388	388	establishment or management of an eligible 21
389	389	practice under the pilot program; and 22
390	390	‘‘(B) may not receive any cost-share pay-23
391	391	ment, practice incentive payment, or manage-24
392	392	ment payment under this subchapter with re-25
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396	396	spect to an eligible practice under the pilot pro-1
397	397	gram. 2
398	398	‘‘(5) A
399	399	GREEMENTS WITH TECHNICAL SERVICE 3
400	400	PROVIDERS.— 4
401	401	‘‘(A) I
402	402	N GENERAL.—The Secretary may 5
403	403	enter into an agreement under section 1242 6
404	404	with 1 or more third-party providers certified 7
405	405	under that section, including a third-party pro-8
406	406	vider certified through a streamlined certifi-9
407	407	cation process under subsection (e)(5) of that 10
408	408	section, that provide technical assistance under 11
409	409	this title in the Chesapeake Bay watershed to 12
410	410	conduct the establishment and management of 13
411	411	an eligible practice on eligible land under the 14
412	412	pilot program. 15
413	413	‘‘(B) A
414	414	CTIVITIES.—In addition to any ac-16
415	415	tivity that a technical service provider may con-17
416	416	duct pursuant to section 1242 relating to the 18
417	417	establishment of an eligible practice, a technical 19
418	418	service provider may carry out such activities as 20
419	419	are necessary to conduct the establishment and 21
420	420	management of an eligible practice under the 22
421	421	pilot program. 23
422	422	‘‘(C) C
423	423	OMPENSATION.—Under an agree-24
424	424	ment entered into under subparagraph (A), the 25
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428	428	Secretary shall provide to a technical service 1
429	429	provider reasonable compensation for services 2
430	430	provided under the agreement, including admin-3
431	431	istrative assistance, technical assistance, design 4
432	432	assistance, and installation costs. 5
433	433	‘‘(6) R
434	434	EPORT TO CONGRESS .—Not later than 1 6
435	435	year after the date of enactment of this subsection, 7
436	436	the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Ag-8
437	437	riculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate and 9
438	438	the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Rep-10
439	439	resentatives a report describing the status of, and 11
440	440	any activities carried out under, the pilot program.’’. 12
441	441	SEC. 5. WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT. 13
442	442	(a) G
443	443	RANTS ANDFELLOWSHIPS FOR FOOD ANDAG-14
444	444	RICULTURALSCIENCESEDUCATION.— 15
445	445	(1) I
446	446	N GENERAL.—Section 1417 of the Na-16
447	447	tional Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teach-17
448	448	ing Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3152) is amend-18
449	449	ed— 19
450	450	(A) in subsection (b)— 20
451	451	(i) in the matter preceding paragraph 21
452	452	(1), by inserting ‘‘, junior or community 22
453	453	colleges, and postsecondary vocational in-23
454	454	stitutions’’ after ‘‘other colleges and uni-24
455	455	versities’’; and 25
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459	459	(ii) in paragraph (3), by striking 1
460	460	‘‘food and agricultural sciences teaching 2
461	461	programs, or teaching programs empha-3
462	462	sizing’’ and inserting ‘‘teaching programs, 4
463	463	including paid work-based learning, for 5
464	464	food and agricultural sciences or’’; 6
465	465	(B) in subsection (c)— 7
466	466	(i) in paragraph (1), by striking 8
467	467	‘‘and’’ at the end; 9
468	468	(ii) in paragraph (2), by striking the 10
469	469	period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 11
470	470	and 12
471	471	(iii) by adding at the end the fol-13
472	472	lowing: 14
473	473	‘‘(3) applications for teaching enhancement 15
474	474	projects, including paid work-based learning, that 16
475	475	address a need for additional trained professionals in 17
476	476	food and agricultural sciences or rural economic de-18
477	477	velopment, community development, or business de-19
478	478	velopment.’’; 20
479	479	(C) in subsection (j)— 21
480	480	(i) by striking paragraph (1); and 22
481	481	(ii) by redesignating paragraphs (2) 23
482	482	and (3) as paragraphs (1) and (2), respec-24
483	483	tively; 25
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486	486	•S 971 IS
487	487	(D) in subsection (l), by striking ‘‘sub-1
488	488	section (j)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (k)’’; 2
489	489	(E) in subsection (m)— 3
490	490	(i) in paragraph (1), by striking 4
491	491	‘‘and’’ at the end; 5
492	492	(ii) in paragraph (2), by striking the 6
493	493	period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 7
494	494	and 8
495	495	(iii) by adding at the end the fol-9
496	496	lowing: 10
497	497	‘‘(3) $60,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 11
498	498	through 2031.’’; 12
499	499	(F) by striking ‘‘subsection (b)’’ each place 13
500	500	it appears and inserting ‘‘subsection (c)’’; 14
501	501	(G) by redesignating subsections (a) 15
502	502	through (m) as subsections (b) through (n), re-16
503	503	spectively; and 17
504	504	(H) by inserting before subsection (b) (as 18
505	505	so redesignated) the following: 19
506	506	‘‘(a) D
507	507	EFINITIONS.—In this section: 20
508	508	‘‘(1) I
509	509	NSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION .— 21
510	510	The term ‘institution of higher education’ has the 22
511	511	meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher 23
512	512	Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 24
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515	515	•S 971 IS
516	516	‘‘(2) JUNIOR OR COMMUNITY COLLEGE .—The 1
517	517	term ‘junior or community college’ has the meaning 2
518	518	given the term in section 312 of the Higher Edu-3
519	519	cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1058). 4
520	520	‘‘(3) P
521	521	OSTSECONDARY VOCATIONAL INSTITU -5
522	522	TION.—The term ‘postsecondary vocational institu-6
523	523	tion’ has the meaning given the term in section 7
524	524	102(c) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 8
525	525	U.S.C. 1002(c)). 9
526	526	‘‘(4) S
527	527	ECONDARY SCHOOL .—The term ‘sec-10
528	528	ondary school’ has the meaning given the term in 11
529	529	section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu-12
530	530	cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 13
531	531	‘‘(5) W
532	532	ORK-BASED LEARNING .—The term 14
533	533	‘work-based learning’ has the meaning given the 15
534	534	term in section 3 of the Carl D. Perkins Career and 16
535	535	Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 17
536	536	2302).’’. 18
537	537	(2) C
538	538	ONFORMING AMENDMENTS .— 19
539	539	(A) Section 708 of the Agriculture, Rural 20
540	540	Development, Food and Drug Administration, 21
541	541	and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1992 22
542	542	(7 U.S.C. 2209b), is amended by striking ‘‘sec-23
543	543	tion 1417(b)(6) of the National Agricultural 24
544	544	Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act 25
545	545	VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:04 Mar 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S971.IS S971
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547	547	•S 971 IS
548	548	of 1977, as amended (7 U.S.C. 3152(b)(6))’’ 1
549	549	and inserting ‘‘subsection (c)(6) of section 1417 2
550	550	of the National Agricultural Research, Exten-3
551	551	sion, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 4
552	552	U.S.C. 3152)’’. 5
553	553	(B) Section 251(f)(1) of the Department 6
554	554	of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 7
555	555	U.S.C. 6971(f)(1)) is amended— 8
556	556	(i) in subparagraph (C)(v), by striking 9
557	557	‘‘section 1417(b) of the National Agricul-10
558	558	tural Research, Extension, and Teaching 11
559	559	Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3152(b))’’ 12
560	560	and inserting ‘‘subsection (c) of section 13
561	561	1417 of the National Agricultural Re-14
562	562	search, Extension, and Teaching Policy 15
563	563	Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3152)’’; and 16
564	564	(ii) in subparagraph (D)(v), by strik-17
565	565	ing ‘‘section 1417(j) of the National Agri-18
566	566	cultural Research, Extension, and Teach-19
567	567	ing Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3152(j))’’ 20
568	568	and inserting ‘‘subsection (k) of section 21
569	569	1417 of the National Agricultural Re-22
570	570	search, Extension, and Teaching Policy 23
571	571	Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3152)’’. 24
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574	574	•S 971 IS
575	575	(b) EXPERIENCED SERVICESPROGRAM.—Section 1
576	576	1252(a)(2) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 2
577	577	3851(a)(2)) is amended— 3
578	578	(1) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 4
579	579	the end; 5
580	580	(2) in subparagraph (E), by striking the period 6
581	581	at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 7
582	582	(3) by adding at the end the following: 8
583	583	‘‘(F) assisting cooperative initiatives under 9
584	584	subsection (c)(3) of section 1417 of the Na-10
585	585	tional Agricultural Research, Extension, and 11
586	586	Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3152) 12
587	587	to improve higher education teaching programs, 13
588	588	including paid work-based learning, at— 14
589	589	‘‘(i) land-grant colleges and univer-15
590	590	sities (including the University of the Dis-16
591	591	trict of Columbia); 17
592	592	‘‘(ii) colleges and universities having 18
593	593	significant minority enrollments and a de-19
594	594	monstrable capacity to carry out the teach-20
595	595	ing of food and agricultural sciences; and 21
596	596	‘‘(iii) other colleges and universities, 22
597	597	junior or community colleges (as defined in 23
598	598	section 312 of the Higher Education Act 24
599	599	of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1058)), and postsec-25
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602	602	•S 971 IS
603	603	ondary vocational institutions (as defined 1
604	604	in section 102(c) of the Higher Education 2
605	605	Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002(c))) having a 3
606	606	demonstrable capacity to carry out the 4
607	607	teaching of food and agricultural 5
608	608	sciences.’’. 6
609	609	(c) C
610	610	OMPETITIVE, SPECIAL, ANDFACILITIESRE-7
611	611	SEARCHGRANTS.—Subsection (b) of the Competitive, 8
612	612	Special, and Facilities Research Grant Act (7 U.S.C. 9
613	613	3157(b)) is amended— 10
614	614	(1) in paragraph (6)(A), by striking ‘‘teaching’’ 11
615	615	and inserting ‘‘teaching, including paid work-based 12
616	616	learning (as defined in section 3 of the Carl D. Per-13
617	617	kins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 14
618	618	(20 U.S.C. 2302))’’; and 15
619	619	(2) in paragraph (7)(B), by inserting ‘‘, junior 16
620	620	or community colleges (as defined in section 312 of 17
621	621	the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 18
622	622	1058)), and postsecondary vocational institutions (as 19
623	623	defined in section 102(c) of the Higher Education 20
624	624	Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002(c)))’’ after ‘‘colleges 21
625	625	and universities’’. 22
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628	628	•S 971 IS
629	629	SEC. 6. NRCS DIRECT HIRE AUTHORITY. 1
630	630	Section 1242 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 2
631	631	U.S.C. 3842) is amended by adding at the end the fol-3
632	632	lowing: 4
633	633	‘‘(j) NRCS D
634	634	IRECTHIREAUTHORITY.— 5
635	635	‘‘(1) I
636	636	N GENERAL.—The Secretary may ap-6
637	637	point, without regard to the provisions of subchapter 7
638	638	I of chapter 33 of title 5, United States Code (other 8
639	639	than sections 3303 and 3328 of that title), qualified 9
640	640	candidates, as described in paragraph (2), directly to 10
641	641	positions within the Natural Resources Conservation 11
642	642	Service that provide technical assistance under con-12
643	643	servation programs administered by the Natural Re-13
644	644	sources Conservation Service. 14
645	645	‘‘(2) Q
646	646	UALIFICATIONS.—Paragraph (1) applies 15
647	647	to any candidate who— 16
648	648	‘‘(A) is qualified to provide the technical 17
649	649	assistance described in paragraph (1), as deter-18
650	650	mined by the Secretary; and 19
651	651	‘‘(B) meets qualification standards estab-20
652	652	lished by the Office of Personnel Manage-21
653	653	ment.’’. 22
654	654	SEC. 7. PRIMARY REGULATORY OVERSIGHT FOR DOMES-23
655	655	TIC, WILD-CAUGHT, INVASIVE CATFISH. 24
656	656	(a) E
657	657	XEMPTIONFROMOVERSIGHT.— 25
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660	660	•S 971 IS
661	661	(1) FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE .— 1
662	662	Section 1(w)(2) of the Federal Meat Inspection Act 2
663	663	(21 U.S.C. 601(w)(2)) is amended by inserting ‘‘, 3
664	664	except for domestic, wild-caught blue catfish 4
665	665	(Ictalurus furcatus) and flathead catfish (Pylodictis 5
666	666	olivaris) invasive to the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem’’ 6
667	667	before the semicolon. 7
668	668	(2) USDA
669	669	GRADING PROGRAM .—Section 8
670	670	203(n)(1) of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 9
671	671	(7 U.S.C. 1622(n)(1)) is amended by inserting ‘‘, ex-10
672	672	cept for domestic, wild-caught blue catfish (Ictalurus 11
673	673	furcatus) and flathead catfish (Pylodictis olivaris) 12
674	674	invasive to the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem’’ before 13
675	675	the semicolon. 14
676	676	(b) I
677	677	NTERAGENCY COORDINATION.—Not later than 15
678	678	90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec-16
679	679	retary of Agriculture (referred to in this section as the 17
680	680	‘‘Secretary’’) shall execute a memorandum of under-18
681	681	standing with the Commissioner of Food and Drugs (re-19
682	682	ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Commissioner’’) for the 20
683	683	purpose of transferring primary regulatory oversight of 21
684	684	the domestic and import inspection of domestic, wild- 22
685	685	caught blue catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) and flathead cat-23
686	686	fish (Pylodictis olivaris) invasive to the Chesapeake Bay 24
687	687	ecosystem from the Secretary to the Commissioner, pursu-25
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690	690	•S 971 IS
691	691	ant to the authorities of the Commissioner under the Fed-1
692	692	eral Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 301 et 2
693	693	seq.), the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (15 U.S.C. 3
694	694	1451 et seq.), and the Public Health Service Act (42 4
695	695	U.S.C. 201 et seq.). 5
696	696	(c) R
697	697	EGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after 6
698	698	the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in con-7
699	699	sultation with the Commissioner, shall issue final regula-8
700	700	tions to carry out this section and the amendments made 9
701	701	by this section in a manner that ensures that there is no 10
702	702	duplication in inspection activities relating to domestic, 11
703	703	wild-caught blue catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) and flathead 12
704	704	catfish (Pylodictis olivaris) invasive to the Chesapeake 13
705	705	Bay ecosystem. 14
706	706	Æ
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