Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1696590733193.pdf (United States)
I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1645 To amend the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a national biochar research network, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 17, 2023 Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS (for herself, Ms. PINGREE, Ms. SCHRIER, Mr. NEWHOUSE, Mr. PANETTA, and Mr. CASTEN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture A BILL To amend the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Edu- cation Reform Act of 1998 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a national biochar research net- work, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1.

SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Biochar Research Net- work Act of 2023’’.

 SEC.

2.
2.

NATIONAL BIOCHAR RESEARCH NETWORK.

Title IV of the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 is amended by inserting before section 404 (7 U.S.C.

7624) the following: ‘‘SEC.

403.

NATIONAL BIOCHAR RESEARCH NETWORK.
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab- lish a national biochar research network (referred to in this section as the ‘research network’) of not more than 20 research sites or facilities described in subsection (c) to test the full range of biochar types across soil types, soil health and soil management conditions, application methods, and climatic and agronomic regions— ‘‘(1) to assess the soil carbon sequestration po- tential of various biochars and management systems integrating biochar use; ‘‘(2) to understand how to use biochar produc- tively to contribute to climate mitigation, crop pro- duction, resilience to extreme weather events, eco- system and soil health, natural resource conserva- tion, and farm profitability; and ‘‘(3) to deliver science-based, region-specific, cost-effective, and practical information to farmers, ranchers, foresters, land reclamation managers, urban land managers, and other land and natural resource managers and businesses on sustainable biochar production and application.
•HR 1645 IH ‘‘(b) SCOPE.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The research network shall encompass— ‘‘(A) agriculture, horticulture, rangeland, forestry, and other biochar uses; and ‘‘(B) a broad range of feedstocks, produc- tion processes, and application treatments.
‘‘(2) RESEARCH.—The research conducted by the research network shall include— ‘‘(A) cross-site and mechanistic experi- ments— ‘‘(i) to fill critical knowledge gaps and gain a more complete understanding of the impact of various types of biochar in vary- ing site conditions on soil properties, plant growth, greenhouse gas emissions, and car- bon sequestration in different soils, cli- mates, and other natural and agronomic conditions; ‘‘(ii) to provide mechanistic and technoeconomic insights on thermochemical conversion processes in biochar production and the coproduction of biochar and bio- energy, including interactions of feedstock properties with reactor conditions and •HR 1645 IH processes on the relative proportions and properties of biochar, biofuels, and value- added coproducts, as well as process effi- ciency; ‘‘(iii) to generate data to develop, cali- brate, and validate robust mechanistic models to predict the full life cycle of greenhouse gas, crop response, and related agronomic and environmental implications of particular applications of biochar; ‘‘(iv) to generate data to help guide the design of new, more efficient biochar and bioenergy production reactors and bio- refineries; and ‘‘(v) to generate data to develop, cali- brate, and validate testing methodologies for biochar to identify potential contami- nants or other factors that may cause un- intended consequences; and ‘‘(B) site-specific farm and forestry sys- tems assessments and pilot-scale biochar pro- duction and application systems— ‘‘(i) to refine the most promising soil- based uses, sources, and methods of pro- •HR 1645 IH S
Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1645.IH H1645 •HR 1645 IH ducing and applying biochar in particular regions— ‘‘(I) to enhance productivity; ‘‘(II) to increase profitability, scalability, and portability; ‘‘(III) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; ‘‘(IV) to improve ecosystem and soil health; ‘‘(V) to strengthen resilience to extreme weather events; and ‘‘(VI) to explore soil, crop, cli- mate, management, and biochar inter- actions; ‘‘(ii) to develop new knowledge to sup- port decisions on sustainable production and use of biochar; ‘‘(iii) to collect relevant data needed for full life cycle greenhouse gas and eco- nomic analyses and complete those anal- ysis; ‘‘(iv) to predict plant response, soil health, soil carbon sequestration, eco- system health, water quality, greenhouse •HR 1645 IH gas, and economic outcomes for specific implementations of biochar technology; ‘‘(v) to provide data to evaluate local biomass feedstocks, support selection of sustainable biochar production methods, and address biochar production issues; and ‘‘(vi) to share research results to in- form farmers, horticulturalists, ranchers, foresters, urban biochar users, extension agents and specialists, and technical assist- ance providers on the most advantageous ways to use biochar to increase profit- ability, raise productivity, lower costs, im- prove soil and plant health, and enhance resilience to extreme weather events while contributing to carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas reductions.
‘‘(c) ELIGIBILITY.—An entity shall be eligible to be selected to conduct research as part of the research net- work if the entity is— 21 22 23 24 ‘‘(1) a State agricultural experiment station or a State forestry experiment station; ‘‘(2) a research facility of the Agricultural Re- search Service, the Forest Service, or any other •HR 1645 IH agency of the Department of Agriculture that the Secretary determines to be appropriate; or ‘‘(3) a research facility of the Department of Energy, the Department of Commerce, or the De- partment of the Interior.
‘‘(d) ADMINISTRATION.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The research network shall be administered by the Administrator of the Agricul- tural Research Service, in partnership with— ‘‘(A) the Chief of the Forest Service; ‘‘(B) the Director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture; ‘‘(C) the Secretary of Energy; ‘‘(D) the Secretary of Commerce; ‘‘(E) the Secretary of the Interior; and ‘‘(F) such other agencies of the Depart- ment of Agriculture as the Secretary determines to be appropriate.
‘‘(2) CONSERVATION.—The Secretary, acting through the Chief of the Natural Resources Con- servation Service— ‘‘(A) may develop or revise practice stand- ards informed by the research conducted by the research network; and •HR 1645 IH ‘‘(B) shall coordinate the activities of the research network with— ‘‘(i) the development, expansion, and refinement of conservation practice stand- ards for biochar production and use for soil and forest health, climate adaptation and mitigation, and other conservation purposes; and ‘‘(ii) improvements and expansion of conservation program technical and finan- cial support for biochar production, appli- cation, and integration into soil health management systems and other conserva- tion approaches.
‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2028.’’.

 •HR 1645 IH